I'd Do Anything For Your Love
by Different Paths
Summary: SakuraxSasuke: Upon rereading this, I'm rather unhappy with my writing style. I'm picking up the story again Chapter 19 with a short re-cap. Sasuke is trying to seek more power, and Sakura has to get him back from a rival love interest.
1. Beginnings

I'd Do Anything For Your Love 

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto. Not any… nada… Just some little stories that pop out of my head that's based on it**

Yeah people… I watch Naruto for the fun of it, so I don't know all the terms, procedures and everything that happens in Naruto. So sorry if it bothers you, but.. .I wrote this for my enjoyment and yours if you like my writing. Oh, but I move stories along a little slow. Just to tell you.

When im lazy.. I tend to skip time, and also I'm inconsistent with terms like-kun and –sensei- and all… sorry.

By the way, sorry if the first chapter follows the anime/manga too much, I just need something to start off the story.

Beginnings

Ever since the beginnings of the ninja academy, Haruno Sakura, like all other girls in her classes, had nurtured a not-so-secret crush on Uchiha Sasuke. When she wasn't taking notes during class and paying attention, she would stare at him and sigh quietly to herself. As she grew older, she sometimes looked at herself and asked herself: Why do you like this guy? She'd shake her head in uncertainty. It was true: he was silent, dark, and cold. But- but! She reasoned with herself, he was somewhat good looking (she blushed) and strong. Plus, she was a young girl, things like cool, silent and cold guys made her swoon for some weird reason. She turned her mind back to Iruka-sensei's lesson…and was distracted again by the back of Sasuke's head.

Sasuke rubbed the back of his head, and worked his shoulders back and forth to get out the stiffness. There were always at least three of them watching him at any time, he felt like he was going to be attacked at any second. With any luck, when the class took their final exam to become genins, he just might have a team with no girls, or maybe a girl who had the sense to concentrate on things other than him. Girls, he scoffed, damn, but they're useless. They're either fawning over some guy or frozen in fear. I can't be held down in missions and training by anyone. My priority is power, and him. Sasuke shook himself. Exactly, stop worrying about girls, what are you doing? He mentally checked his countdown until the exam. Five days. He better become a genin. Actually, he had no problem admitting he was going to anyways.

After the genin exam is over…

Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and… Uzumaki Naruto. Possibly the worst possible trio to ever occur. They stood in a circle glowering at each other. Well, only some people glowered at some people.

Sakura had an insuppressible smile and bursts of joy inside her every time she saw Sasuke. He's in MY GROUP! (Inner Sakura: ALL RIGHTTT DAMMIT!) However, her face seemed to be having a war with itself every time she saw Naruto. Naruto. She hated him. He was always in her way when she was trying to just watch Sasuke-kun.

Naruto was the same as Sakura. He looked sideways at her and grinned. He then looked the other way and scowled at Sasuke. What a pretty boy, he thought, I bet I could beat him up any day. Why does everyone like him so much!

Sasuke stood there and had the impassive expression on him.

"Heyyy, Sakura-chan! We're in the same group together now, aren't we?" Naruto grinned stupidly and hollered at her as if she was twenty feet away. Sakura smacked him out of the way and took Naruto's place next to Sasuke.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun," She said quietly, looking down and blushing. "We're in the same group together now, aren't we?" He made that "hmf" sound, tossed his head and looked up. Sakura felt crushed.

Damn. Sasuke cursed to himself. I was hoping for an all guys team. A good all guys team. But no, here I am with a girl, the worst of them it seems, and a useless dropout. And where's our idiot of a teacher?

A poof sounded, and Sakura and Sasuke twisted around. Naruto was still on the floor, twitching.

"Hey, guys. I'm your teacher, Hatake Kakashi, neh, actually make it just Kakashi."

Sasuke felt his eyebrow raise involuntarily. Gray hair, face mask, forehead protector drooping over one eye. This guy looks like some kind of drug-addict, he sneered

"H-Hi, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura stammered out, looking equally puzzled.

Naruto: twitch

After the introductions were all made and Naruto was restored to his loud and normal condition, Kakashi led them to the training grounds. For the next couple of days they did small exercises, building up stamina and such and spent a lot of time just learning to control chakra better. One day, they started the real stuff.

He began with the tree-climbing exercise.

"Collect chakra to your feet and attach it to the tree trunk. Like this." As he had been talking, he slowly walked up the tree trunk while still reading that odd little red book, and hung upside down from a tree branch wayyy up high. He walked back down onto the ground, and continued, "Running helps. Go." With that, he chose a comfortable nook between some tree roots and went on with his reading.

"Hah. I do things like that in my sleep!" Naruto burst out, and immediately ran towards the base of the tree. "HaaaaaAAAAAAA!" He snarled as he tried to force his way up the tree trunk. "GAH!" Naruto had made it just two feet off the ground off of pure force in his run, when his momentum slowed, stopped, and dissolved. He fell back to the ground.

"Chakra, you idiot!" Sakura snarled. She took a deep breath as a blue glow appeared around her feet, and took a running start, just as Sasuke headed for another tree. Naruto snorted, got up, dusted himself off and tried again. He fell back to the ground again. Well, this time he had gotten up **three feet**! Man, the improvements are just pouring in already! Naruto said to himself. He wasn't sure if it was sarcastic or not.

Two muffled thumps caught his attention. Sasuke landed a few feet away from him, and a few seconds later, Sakura on his other side. All three turned as one to look at the two markings. Sakura's was much higher. Sasuke's face was impassive, again. Naruto snickered behind his hand, and both Sasuke and Sakura glared at him. He quieted.

Sakura was ecstatic. She couldn't tell what Sasuke thought of hers being higher, but if Sasuke could respect her for her skills, Sakura would take that option.

Naruto interrupted her thinking. "Why can't I do it?" He moaned and complained.

"Remember what Kakashi-sensei said, stupid, collect chakra to your feet." Sakura snapped.

All three set off for the trees again.

At the end of the day, Sakura had made her way up to the top of the tree several times already. Kakashi told her to try it on rocks, but she mastered that quickly too. To her dismay, it made Sasuke seem to look at her with dislike and annoyance.

After practice, Sakura gathered the courage she needed for what she was about to do. I must be crazy. She mumbled to herself.

"Sasuke-kun!" she called after the dark blue back that was leaving the grounds. He turned and stared at her. She gulped as her stomach erupted with butterflies. She ran up next to him and said, "Can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

"You already are." Sasuke said. Sakura's face colored, and she went on hurriedly.

"What… what can I do to earn your respect?" she mumbled softly.

"I can't hear what you're saying. Either spit it out and stop wasting my time or let me go home."

Sakura's mind was a jumble. "Um, sorry, Sasuke-kun. Sorry." And she turned and ran home, mentally slapping herself every five seconds.

The next day she tried again.

"Sasuke-kun!" she caught up with him again. He turned irritably and frowned when he saw her. Her head dropped, but came right back up. She opened her mouth to speak, and a tangled mess of words spilled out. _Tch, what's wrong with me. I'm not Hinata or anything._

The black-haired boy was glaring at her.

Sakura collected herself and cheerfully smiled and waved, "Nevermind. See you tomorrow!" and with that, the Uchiha left her. She looked at the receding back and her smiled faded a little. She would never get him. How could she? Sasuke-kun needed someone serious who he could respect.

The scene replayed over and over for the third, fourth and fifth tries Sakura took to try and talk to Sasuke. There was _definitely_ something wrong here. Each time, Sasuke got more and more annoyed.

On the sixth day, Sakura managed to catch Sasuke and she walked with him, while Naruto jumped about in the background raging about how he couldn't get more than six feet off the ground on the tree.

"Sasuke-kun…" she began.

"Sakura!" Sasuke snapped. "I am not ashamed to tell you that when I found you on my team, I was dismayed. I am _sick_ of annoying people like _you_ who constantly follow me about! I hoped more from you, that luck would smile on me for once and show me that you could pull some different personality from the paparazzi people and do something on your own. I was wrong."

As the rant flowed out, Sakura felt suddenly different.

"Sorry, Sasuke-kun," she started again, but this time, confident. "I was just wondering. That first day we started the climbing exercises, you had a negative expression on your face, Sasuke-kun. I want to know how I can earn your respect."

Sasuke's face looked crushed and there was an unhealthy blue tinge around the edges of his face.

"You… are deaf. I just said, shut up and stop trying to make me see you, because I do. So shut up, put in some hard work and forget about whatever thing you've got for me. I don't care for you! I don't give many people respect, in fact I can't think of any right now. That means I want you to be your own person, and not my shadow and I will give you respect as a friend." He looked surprised at how much he had just said. So talkative lately, he was getting. _Tch_. He felt scorn at himself. _I'll go home and practice some more._

A triumphant cry echoed from the training grounds as Naruto somehow reached the top of the tree. Back at the grounds, Kakashi thought_ Ah… a tiny bit of Kyuubi. Hello there. Naruto doesn't know how to control the chakra though. Ah well..he'll learn_.

"Hmm… maybe two people I respect, then." Sasuke muttered, thoughtful. Sakura's face lit up… He respected Naruto and her! He respected her! As a friend! "Yes yes, Kakashi and Naruto, well… a little bit for Naruto." Sasuke finished. Sakura's face fell into shadow again, and she had vanished long before Sasuke turned back to say something to her.


	2. Broken, Then ReMade

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor any part of it.

Hey guys, thanks for reading… if anyone did. I don't know, this far no one's left reviews. I'd love it if you guys did! Thanks!… and sorry I forgot to mention in the first chapter… Tsunade's the Hokage already..ummm… the Third is already gone. And this story started with the genin team choosing but then jumps ahead to higher levels of skills for the three of them.

Broken, then Re-made

Sakura lay under the covers on her bed in her room, safe from Sasuke's cutting words. She had held them back when his original words had rushed into her mind. She curled up and rubbed her red eyes. Sasuke's face, filled with annoyance and negativity, swam into her mind's eye. _"I don't care for you!"_ It repeated over and over in her ears, ringing. After a long while it stopped, but the ringing continued, but now the sound held shame, sorrow, and a feeling of loss.

Sakura's eyes were closed as the ones in her thoughts opened. Her Inner Sakura woke up, and instead of being victorious and rebellious, she felt nothing but sadness. She wandered the corridors of her mind, where all her pictures of her and Sasuke together in a happy couple were curling at the corners and cracks and rips ate at the edges of the images. On each picture a long rip was sliding down through the middle. Through the middle, and in between Sasuke and Sakura. The rips she saw on the pictures tearing through the middle tore apart different scenes. She watched picnics together, sunsets and sunrises, and last of all, her last imagined perfect world, her last mind's image, a picture of her and Sasuke close together, shoulder to shoulder, holding hands, rip apart. She watched as the tear raced down the picture and tore their hands apart.

Tears coursed down her face, eyes tightly shut, but the tears streaming out anyways. She ran, in her mind, ran away from all of it. She got lost in the now dark and colorless corridors of her mind. But, as the minutes ticked by, Sakura found a new feeling she hadn't really felt before. It was determination and the thought of one-minded fierceness in pursuing something she wanted badly. Her Inner Sakura found a door that was the same dark as the rest of her thoughts, but glowed through the cracks around the door. She reached out, and opened it.

Sakura woke up the next day from dreams she grasped at, but couldn't remember as they slid away from her memories. She felt strong though, and confident. She leapt out of bed and began to search for her day's uniform. It wasn't easy though. She had decided when she woke up that for some whim of her mind, she was going to wear something different from the red uniform/dress that she normally had on. Again, it wasn't easy, because it seemed that the uniform thing was the only thing she even had to wear that was hanging in her closet!

"Dammit!" she hissed, as her arms windmilled about in the closet, red uniforms flying out of it. Her mom knocked on her door as she normally did to make sure Sakura had awoken, and entered the room to find Sakura in a bathrobe standing in a pile of clothes…

"Sakura-a-a…" her mom snarled. "You're cleaning that up, you know."

"Help me find something else to wear other than this insane constantly multiplying mass of red, and I'll make sure I do." Sakura returned, rebellious and annoyed from her encounter with the closet.

Her mom returned to find the floor clear of red dresses, and held up a new set of clothes for Sakura to see. First of all, it was crazily skimpy. It was basically a cut off tank top that stopped wayyy too high, and a mini-skirt. Sakura blanched. To top that, it was also bright orange and striped with neon green. It hurt her eyes to look at it.

"MOM! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" she screamed, pointing at the glowing clothes and shielding her eyes.

Her mom said briskly, "Well, if you don't like the clothes that you've been happy to wear for the past years of your life, and you don't appreciate the money your father and I work to earn so we can buy you those clothes hanging in your closet, then you can wear horrible things like this." Sakura noticed the sunglasses on her mom's face to protect her from the light reflecting off of the horrid … clothes? Sakura didn't even know if those counted as clothes.

Sakura let out a long breath that whooshed past her clenched teeth. She took her normal uniform into the bathroom to change, and hear her mom sign in relief and leave her room.

She finished changing into her uniform and hung her flower-printed pajamas on a hook. Some money was taken off a shelf and put into her kunai-container (sorry for my ignorance if this thing even has a name) , taking care to arrange it so her money wasn't sliced into pieces. Then, she ran downstairs and said a hurried goodbye to her mother and her father, who gave an absent-minded wave. After that, she just charged out into the street and straight to her favorite store. About an hour later, she walked out with several bags bulging with a billion (excuse the exaggeration) sets of… a new uniform. The new clothes were dumped out and taken downstairs for later washing, but she took one set of the new uniform, and changed into it.

_Dang, I'm good. Just in time for practice_. She thought, grinning at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She called to her parents yet another goodbye and an "I'm going to training!" as she walked out of the door, and didn't notice her mother's gape-mouthed stare and her father's thoughtful _hmmm_'s. She felt great. _Time for training. Yes_. She didn't even realize that she wasn't thinking about Sasuke-kun at all.

_Tch_. Sasuke's eye's narrowed slightly in annoyance. Naruto and Sasuke were waiting on the bridge again. It wasn't that rare, infact, they did it everyday. Whenever they tried to sleep in later or go to the bridge later in the day, he was waiting for them when they came, even if they came long before he ever appeared. Yes, he would be there waiting and give them a disapproving look. So it was always the three of them waiting for Kakashi, and never any other way. But then again, they usually waited for Kakashi. Today, it was Kakashi _and_ Sakura?

Naruto seemed puzzled too. "Oy, Sasuke."

"Hm."

"Where's Sakura-chan? She's usually on time, isn't she?"

"Neh… Not today, apparently."

Naruto settled back onto the railing, and Sasuke turned his head back up to the clouds where he watched the patterns go by. Last night, he had certainly not slept well. Sakura's quivering face had seemed projected from his mind onto the ceiling as he lay there staring at it. She had looked so sad. _Damn it, but she's annoying_. Yet as he thought those words and remembered his harsh words to her yesterday, he felt an odd feeling of regret. He hmphed to himself, and cleared his mind, and forced himself to bring up that dreadful image of Itachi.

"Gooooood morning!" Kakashi called from his personal little red arch. "Let's see… I got… lost?" He winked, although one eye was covered anyways. "Hmm… Sakura's not here?"

"Nah, she's late. Maybe she's sick." Naruto said.

Sasuke twitched as an image of Sakura in a corner crying popped up. He winced. He tried to wipe it away, but it didn't do anything. The three of them set off for the forest, where they had their latest mission.

"This is _so_ stupid!" Naruto complained. "Why are we trying to catch a bunch of chickens that ran away from a restaurant? They're going to be eaten if they stay in the forest, and they'll be eaten in the restaurant too!" They were still walking towards the area of forest where the chickens were supposed to have run and were putting in earpieces and transmitters. Sasuke personally agreed with Naruto. _Catching chickens_. _Tsk_. _Waste of time. Chuunin exam is coming up in a couple of months._

"It's just a simple mission. Ninja shouldn't complain about things that the people need them to do." Kakashi replied, cheerfully playing on Naruto's ninja pride.

They came upon a clearing and their ears were filled with _buk buk..buk boGAAAAAAWK!_

"Have fun, guys." Kakashi said.

He promptly jumped up onto a tree branch, settled down, and opened his Paradise book. Naruto and Sasuke glared up at him with lightning shooting out of their eyeballs at him.

"Damn it. Sakura's not even here! She's never here for grunt work." Naruto muttered.

"Shut it and get started, idiot. We're going to shepherd them into a circle then keep them there with that net you brought, Naruto. Then we can contact the restaurant." Sasuke said. He sighed, then tapped the ear transmitters. "Yeah… we contact with them with the transmitters. Get started."

An hour later, the last chicken ran squawking into the crowd of chickens that was gathered in the middle of the clearing. Sasuke used a mild genjutsu technique on the chickens and saw their movements die down as they fell asleep under the genjutsu.

"Naruto, the net." He called to Naruto, who was wrestling with a net that he had shoved inside his backpack, and had pulled it out to find it tangled. Naruto worked out a last knot or two, and then handed one end to Sasuke. Together, they tossed the net over the chicken group and arranged the stone weights.

"Phew. Done!" Naruto proclaimed, grinning. Sasuke was counting the chickens.

"There's only twenty-five of them. The restaurant needs all thirty back. We're missing five." Sasuke snarled. "Great."

Naruto gave a wail and a groan. He sat down with a thump on the ground.

"What do we do? Look for the others and leave these alone to escape again?"

_BO GAAAWWK! _The scream of another chicken erupted again as one charged out from under the net. The other chickens were beginning to stir.

"Shit…" Sasuke cursed.

"OY SASUKE WHAT'S UP WITH YOUR GENJUTSU!" Naruto yelled, as the chickens began to rustle madly.

"Well now, NARUTO! What about that net you made! You didn't weave that part!" Sasuke returned, and pointed to a foot wide hole in the net where the first chicken had run away. Naruto's face reddened in anger and embarrassment.

"Screw… THIS!" he roared, and suddenly a kunai was out of his pocket and flashing towards the runaway chicken.

"NARUTO! YOU IDIOT!" Sasuke yelled, but it was too late to be able to stop it.

_Ding_. Another kunai collided into Naruto's kunai, and pinned it through the hole against a tree. Naruto and Sasuke gaped at the kunai and the runaway chicken that was still running away. But before they could trace the kunai…

_Buk buk buk buk!_ The rest of the chickens suddenly began to stream out through _other_ holes in the net!

"Shit." Sasuke again, and along with Naruto this time.

_Whoosh_. A larger net of real quality landed over the chickens and covered them yet again. Naruto gaped again, but Sasuke's eyes blazed into Sharingan and he whipped around and caught…

Sakura.


	3. The New Sakura

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Naruto

( Hey guys, I'm still waiting for reviews! They don't have to be positive you know, just… suggestions, complaints, etc.

The New Sakura

"Sakura-chann!" Naruto exclaimed with delight, then stopped short as he fully took her in. Sasuke was still standing there with his Sharingan, staring at her.

Sure, it was Sakura, standing up there on that tree branch. But… but… she had a completely different look. She wore a gray zip-up hoodie that had a light pink sakura blossom printed on the front. It was unzipped in front, and the separate halves of the jacket's front flared about her sides in the wind, revealing a black shirt with the Haruno clan symbol in pink on the front. She wore black durable short pants and her forehead protector was firmly in place, although her long pink hair was now tied back into a low ponytail that trailed down her back. Most startling of all, her eyes had changed to a darker type of green, and there seemed to be a constant flicker of colors underneath the green. Her eyes had a look of determination that couldn't be scratched anything.

She tossed her hair, and the long tail of hair wove through the wind to settle over her shoulder. Sakura looked down at Naruto, and then across the clearing to the other side of trees, meeting Kakashi's eyes. He had finally looked up at the sudden disturbances, and his eye seemed to widen slightly at Sakura.

"Sorry, I'm late. I seemed to arrive just in time to keep everything from falling apart, anyways." She stated matter-of-factly. Her voice had changed too, Sasuke thought, it was more officious, confident. Sakura jumped down from the tree branch, holding a bag in her hand, and rose from the ground. Her eyes connected with Sasuke's for the first time. She didn't look away like she usually did. _And_, Sasuke noted with some feeling of disbelief and shock_, She doesn't have that look of fawning adoration_. He wasn't sure if this disturbed him.

She extended her arm, and offered Sasuke the bag he had seen in her hand. It was a large one. He took it.

"What is it?"

"The five chickens that weren't with the rest of them." She replied curtly, and then ran to find the sixth that Naruto had tried to kill. She returned shortly, holding it by the legs, and shoving it under the net with the others. Sasuke stared at her the entire time. _What happened!_ He thought, bewildered. There was no trace of redness in her eyes, or a tremble in her voice as she spoke to him. And she had changed her appearance, her attitude.

"You baka, Naruto!" Sakura chided Naruto, for once letting a glimpse of the old Sakura's attitude glimmer through. "Kill the mission, will you?"

"You were late." Sasuke suddenly felt an urge to say something against this new Sakura. "Should you be scolding him?"

Sakura's face turned from Naruto's beside him, to Sasuke's. Her eyes had lost their previous sparkle when she had been teasing/scolding Naruto, and her face was hard. Sasuke shivered as her eyes seemed to turn an even darker green, and he thought he saw streaks of red glimmer.

"Perhaps you would prefer me not to come at all, and let several hours of work go to nothing." She said quietly. Then she raised her voice. "Kakashi-sensei. We're done. Please deliver the chickens back to the restaurant. If you'll excuse us, the three of us will go spar now." She said it politely but firmly.

"Hey now, Sakura-chan! You can't order Kakashi-sensei around! And since when did you take charge of our training?"

"Think of it, Naruto_-chan_. Any training supervised by you would be on how to eat ramen in 10 seconds flat. You tell me. My training will get us somewhere. I intend to improve. You can do otherwise if you want to." She said coldly. Naruto winced at the _chan_ that Sakura used. Then, Sasuke seemed to watch Sakura's eyes become a light teal like they had been before, although the hints of other colors still remained.

"Come on, guys! Let's go!" she smiled for the first time. Sasuke and Naruto exchanged very confused glances, then followed the receding gray back.

Sparks flew as Naruto and Sasuke sparred, and their kunais clashed over and over. They were going in pairs, and Sakura was sitting out for the first match.

"_Kage Bunshin no Justu!"_ Naruto multiplied into five of himself.

_Sharingan_. Sasuke thought, and his eyes turned red. He immediately located the real Naruto, and sent him spinning to the ground a few feet away. Naruto got up, wincing, and for once, wished he knew how to use more techniques. It'd be funny to see what the sexy no jutsu did to Sasuke, but Sakura would kill him for even trying. _Well, the old one would_. Naruto looked at the changed Sakura, who was watching without any expression. Her eyes were a medium shade of green.

"I give up. Sakura, it's your turn." Naruto surprised himself and the two others as he admitted defeat.

Sakura shrugged, then got up. Sasuke's eyes returned to normal as he prepared to battle Sakura. She could do all the weird stuff she wanted, but no one could improve in a single night. She had been bluffing. She changed places with Naruto, and Naruto declared, "Start!"

Sasuke and Sakura stared at each other, Sasuke noticing that Sakura's eyes had turned such a dark green that they seemed black. He blinked after a while, and his eyes widened at the patch of empty air in front of him.

_WHAM!_ The back of Sakura's foot connected with the middle of Sasuke's back, and he was flung forward. He remembered the day when the three of them had decided that when they sparred, it was real sparring. But no trying to kill each other or give them bleeding cuts, because that was just going too far. Sakura had always backed out of her turn to spar, which had been fine with Sasuke. He got up onto his hands and knees, and leapt up to block her kunai that had come out of nowhere. His hand tingled under the impact.

_What is this?_ He wondered, shocked, as he stared into Sakura's grim eyes.

"Are you finished already, you big chicken?"Sakura quipped the line Sasuke and Naruto had often shot at each other. Sasuke's eyes became slits in their anger, and his eyes turned red. _Sharingan!_ Sakura leapt away and vanished in high-speed movement. Sasuke followed it with ease.

Naruto was sitting against the tree trunk staring at the two of them. Mostly Sakura. _When had she gotten so fast! She could match Sasuke! I think she does!_ His eyes were wide. He continued watching as the sparring became more than a match. Other than the Replication, they didn't use any real techniques, but they used their shuriken and kunais with no hesitation.

Half an hour later, Sakura flew backwards, and landed tumbling in the dirt on the ground as Sasuke punched her shoulder and sent her rolling. She stopped and gathered herself into a crouch, and suddenly sprang at Sasuke again. He smirked at the futility of her attack, and sent three kunais speeding in her direction, then stopped dead in his tracks as Sakura changed her speed and dropped like a rock somehow. She landed and swung a foot around, tripping Sasuke. He gave an _oof_ as the wind was knocked out of him. Before he knew anything, Sakura was straddling his stomach with a kunai at his throat.

"I win." She whispered, and grinned. Then she got off of him and collapsed on the ground. Sasuke lay there too, both too exhausted to get up. Naruto got up and walked over to the two of them.

"That was… amazing, Sakura!" he said, taking care not to add the ­–chan after her name. "You too, Sasuke! How come I can't do that?"

"That's because, you're an idiot like that, Naruto." Sasuke panted. He got up too. Sakura began to stand up, but fell back down as her legs trembled. Sasuke grinned, a real one.

"Great, Sakura. Really. Nice to know you realized it." He said as he offered her a hand. She smiled and took it, pulling herself up and dusting herself off.

But, she replied, "You don't know anything about anything I did. Keep out." And smiled again. Sasuke looked puzzled.

"I think that's it for today." Naruto said. "You guys must be tired."

The other two agreed, and set off for the village.

Sasuke went home and showered. It was early evening still, and he prepared some quick dinner. All the while, he was puzzling over the new Sakura. He also began to feel a little jealous. How come Sakura had improved like that over a night? There was no way she had trained. How come he couldn't do that? It felt the same as when Sasuke and Naruto had compared the strength of their Chidori and Rasengan. Naruto had won, by quite a lot.

He shook himself, and refused to be jealous. The hunger for power was what had driven Itachi to kill his kin. Sasuke had a want for power too, but it was to avenge his family. Yet he couldn't rid himself of the feeling that he was going along the exact same lines as Itachi.

_No. I'll train harder. I don't have distractions now that Sakura's come to reality. I can improve by myself and I'm good where I am._ As soon as he thought this, his mind's feeling of pressure seemed to have lightened already. He finished dinner and washed his dishes. Later, he slept easily, but before he had fallen asleep, a picture of Sakura sticking her tongue out with a giggling smile on her face bloomed in his mind.

Sakura had not gone home. She had gone straight to Tsunade-sama, who she deeply respected and had formed a friendship with. She marched in through the doors of the Hokage's work office, and cleared her throat politely. The Hokage wasn't there.

"Hokage-sama." She called, bracing herself for the wave of nosie.

"SAKKKURA! Exactly how many times have I told you, that considering your relationship with me, the honorific term is not needed! A simple Tsunade-san would be enou-" Tsunade stomped through from a side room and stopped mid-sentence, staring at Sakura. Then she smiled and forced a chuckle.

"New look..eh? eh..he…ah… What's up?" Tsunade said, and sat down behind her desk.

Sakura sat down in front of the desk and began with Sasuke's harsh words to her. Tsunade nodded, already knowing about Sakura's crush on Sasuke. Then Sakura talked about her new uniform and her newfound power and skill. She also told the Hokage about how much she could control the expressions on her face. She confessed she had no idea how any of it had happened. Her eyes were now the color they had used to be, and her face was creased with worry.

"Nahh, calm down, Sakura-chan." Tsunade comforted Sakura. "I think that you've always had this power but you were too busy trying to make Sasuke notice you and everything that even touched on Sasuke clouded your mind. You were afraid too much power would make him despise you. I see you don't care anymore…?" Sakura quieted, and listened to her, then nodded vigorously.

"Yes, maybe. But the last part's wrong. I still do care about Sasuke! But it's the same kind as I do for Naruto. I care for them as friends. Something changed in me and now I don't feel anything for Sasuke. Well… I'm not sure yet."

"I want to try something, Sakura," Tsunade said.

"Um… okay." Sakura said. Tsunade handed her a round thing that looked like a bowling ball.

"It's just a test. Pinch it into a cube." Tsunade said. "Concentrate on that feeling of determination you had today."

Sakura's eyes popped. "PINCH!"

"Shut up and just try." Tsunade snapped. Sakura gave a _meep_ and then shut her eyes tightly, and began to move her hands.

……..

"Open your eyes, Sakura." Tsunade said. Sakura opened them, and found a heavy cube in her hands. She gave a shriek.

"Oh my god…there it is again. That creepy strength. I'm not sure I like it anymore." Sakura was trembling. Tsunade took out an identical ball and dropped it onto a nearby scale. The needle went way up, and so did the pitch of Sakura's shriek this time.

"I think you can learn to control it. Now you can turn on that robot face of yours, and get on home to catch some sleep. Uchiha Sasuke is not an easy opponent to best." Tsunade said, and picked up a sheaf of papers as if to declare there was nothing left for Sakura to do. Sakura got up, her face now calm again, but her eyes shifting shades nervously. She went out of the room and closed the door gently.

Tsunade lowered the papers to just below her eyes, and over them, she looked at the door.

"The flower has bloomed." She murmured to herself.


	4. A Better Me

D/C- I do not own Naruto or anything associated with it except for my lil story thing

thanks to Neon Kun for my first review!

Again, they're genins and all, but I'm going to make them some bunch older than I think they look… hmm..how old ARE they supposed to be! My story time is kinda weird cuz it starts with the genin team starting, but then they turn sixteen. So the timings kinda funny. I guess I just used that part as the beginning to get the thing started. Hmm…and when do most ninjas become chuunins.. I don't keep up with this kinda weird stuff…

A Better Me

Three weeks passed by after the first day of the different Sakura. The genin team's three birthdays were all in those three weeks. First came Sasuke's, a week after Sakura changed. Then Sakura's arrived five days after his, and Naruto's was the day after Sakura's. All three turned sixteen. The pressure Naruto felt that Sakura had suddenly become much better than he had was pushing him to improve more and more. He knew of Kyuubi's power in him, but he couldn't entirely control it, and what little sense he had told him that trying to pull out all of Kyuubi's power was ultimately dangerous. He would just learn to control the flow, and use it to his best extent. That's all he could do. But he definitely couldn't let the black haired boy and the pink haired girl both beat him.

Sakura had been feeling quite happy ever since her change. She let Naruto come closer to her heart, and Naruto and Sasuke became the closest friends she had ever thought she had. Ino had become more distant ever since their childhood, and although they exchanged friendly smiles and brief conversations, their friendship was never the same. Sakura and Ino only missed each other a little, but it was for the memories they had shared when they were little. They were both happy, Ino had become close friends with Tenten, and Sakura felt just fine around Naruto and Sasuke.

Sasuke, too, was pushed forward by Sakura's flood of newfound skills. However, he reminded himself every minute of his goal. Power. But he also reminded himself of how to get it. He would draw on his friends, they would support him. He could train with them, gain strength from them, and keep his mind positive, and away from the darkness that Itachi represented. He saw how hard Naruto was working, and in fact, had always worked. He saw the new glint of determination and ambition in Sakura's ever changing eyes. He grew fond of her, also, and the previously annoying immature little girl disappeared from his mind and was replaced by a cheerful and helpful teenage girl. He felt another thing for her, also. He couldn't name it, but seemed to remember something from his childhood that was exactly like what Sakura brought up in his mind.

One day, Naruto took sick, and Kakashi had a meeting to go to. He dropped by, and quickly explained the two absences, then told the two they could have the day off, and then vanished. Sakura blinked, and the protective veil of dark green lifted from her eyes. It seemed to automatically switch itself on every time Sakura heard something she didn't know.

"Well. I'm going for a walk in the forest. Maybe I'll train some later." She said to Sasuke. She winked at him and waved, turning to the dirt path that led away from the village.

"I'll come with you. D'you mind?" Sasuke surprised himself as he quickly caught up with her. Sakura's eyes flickered.

"Nah."

They entered the forest in quiet companionship, each with their own thoughts.

"Sakura…" Sasuke began.

"Hrm."

"What happened? Why did you change?" Sasuke's questions bumped into each other in their haste.

Sakura's bangs rustled over her face, flickering shades throwing themselves over her face. The long rope of hair moved on her back from the wind. She was quiet for several moments, and her face was dark. Sasuke feared that he had offended her. An angry Sakura had always been a danger sign. Before, it had been nothing to Sasuke, she just lost her childish temper and hit the person hard. Usually Naruto. But now, her anger was something to really be afraid of. She had naturally come across some type of massive strength that didn't really seem much different from the Hokage-sama's. He flinched, but kept walking with her.

After a moment, Sakura's hand smoothed her bangs and had tucked them behind her ears. Her face lifted, and her eyes were dark. Sasuke couldn't read them. But soon, they flared into life, such a bright shade of light green it was almost white. She smiled at him, a kind one.

"Why, Sasuke, to become a better me." Sakura said, ignoring the first part of the question. "I just wanted to become better, so I did. What's your reason? Itachi?" Her last two questions were spoken calmly, and she was not surprised at Sasuke's pale face. His eyes narrowed and he spoke angrily.

"Exactly what is it that's your business which concerns that beast. Keep out of my personal business. You should know nothing of that."

Sakura's voice was both hard but gentle. "Don't be stupid, Sasuke. The entire village knows of it. The kids who are younger than we are know you both as the genius young ninja and also as the dark, sad boy whose family was murdered by a brother they all loved. The village adults and elders know about it. Don't think of it as a secret. You might think of it like that because no one mentions it around you, and you don't want to think of it bu-"

"Stop, Sakura. Please." Sasuke interrupted, and now he wasn't angry. No one had ever spoken to him like that. He had always kept to himself, and now someone telling the truth he had tried to bury in himself, was just too much. He spoke softly, and Sakura obeyed. His feet slowed and he stood there, looking at the ground.

Sakura's eyes darkened in surprise. She hadn't meant to make him sad, lonely or whatever it was. She had pushed too hard, too far, too fast. Sasuke slowly slid to his knees, and kneeled there, trembling, on the forest path. He was whispering something, that Sakura couldn't hear. Sakura quickly walked back to him, and kneeled down in front of him.

"Sasuke…" she said, worry in her voice. "I'm sorry. Really, I am. Are you okay?"

Then she watched, shocked, as a single tear fell from Sasuke's tightly shut eyes. Sighing, she closed her eyes, shutting back a rush of tears, and forced them back. Gently, she leaned forward and gave Sasuke a hug. She hugged him, and let him sit there, holding her arms around him, trembling. No more tears fell.

After a few seconds, Sasuke stirred and Sakura let him go. He rose to his feet, and smiled at her. It was a real one. Then his eyes lowered again.

"Thank you, Sakura." He said. Then he thought again, and in a lower tone, asked her, "Do you ever feel lonely?"

"Me?" Sakura laughed. "No, course not. I've got my parents, Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, and you. All my friends. Tsunade-sama. No. I'm plenty happy." Sasuke gave a small smile, and they kept on walking. After that one incident, they talked casually about training, techniques, and other things that avoided personal life. Sasuke genuinely enjoyed it. Later, they had a spar match, using no weapons as they were supposed to. They gave up in a tie when the sun was low in the sky. They walked back to the village, talking again, with exhausted smiles. As they neared the village, both lapsed into silence again. Sakura waved goodbye to Sasuke, who nodded, and both went opposite ways to their houses.

At home, Sakura reflected about that day. She had seen Sasuke cry. The teenage Sasuke, who never cried in front of every one. It surprised her, but she felt trusted by him, for him to show his weakness. Something tugged at her heart and mind and she jumped in surprise and alarm. It was her old crush on him. She snarled at herself and shoved it back into a corner of her mind. She didn't remember that night she had changed her goals overnight. She only remembered crying from the cruel things Sasuke had said. Then the next thing she recalled was waking up and feeling somehow, different. Once she saw Sasuke at the chicken clearing, she knew one thing, she didn't have a crush on him anymore. She remembered nothing of her mind's imaginations of her and Sasuke's possible future. To her, it seemed that something was missing from her mental gallery. Her mental picture frames had always been filled with fond memories of childhood, days with her parents, and the academy for the little ninjas-in-training… hadn't they? She remembered her huge crush on Sasuke, and she remembered that she had had insane impossible pictures of them together in her mind. But she couldn't remember any of them. They had gone with her old crush and weaknesses. She was strong now, and Sasuke was just a friend. But today, that time when she had held him and comforted him, it just touched her. _I can't let anything pull me aside. My goal as a ninja is to protect Konoha and fulfill my duties. Sasuke is a friend… the old times are gone_.

Sasuke too, was thinking about the day. He had cried, showed his true self to her. What did she think of that? Sakura had always been considerate, hopefully she still respected him. _Tchah, what do I care?_ He said to himself, trying to mock himself. But it didn't have the same spirit as before. He didn't agree with the statement. Sasuke touched his cheeks, where Sakura's arms had touched his face as they crossed his body and held him to her. He went to bed, still trying to figure the entire thing out.

The next morning, he woke up to start preparations for practice that day, and a "mission" to go pick some old lady's peaches off her trees. As he got dressed, he noticed the picture with Kakashi and the three of them. It had the old Sakura in it. It hit him like a blast of cold wind. He knew what the feeling he had for Sakura was. He knew what it was from his childhood that Sakura reminded him of. It was love, well, a one-sided one. He had loved his family, his parents, and his older brother Itachi who he had always looked up to. As they died, so did that emotion. Itachi died too, in his heart, and he denied to himself that he was related to the monster. His mind felt unused to that emotion, having long been rid of it. He finished dressing, and went downstairs to eat breakfast. Sasuke wondered if the new Sakura had a crush on him still. No, it was gone. She had changed for the better. He had admitted it himself! She had changed so all three of them could train better. She was all ambition now, and held Sasuke as a close friend, but no more. It felt so weird, now that he realized it, to be thinking of Sakura all the time now. He loved her. He loved the old and the new Sakura. They were the same, but the old one was covered by her liking for him, which weighed her down in his mind and in her skills. The new Sakura was like her spirit within (the inner Sakura), that came out of its shell. It showed her true personality. Eager, kind, thoughtful, but hard-working. He loved both parts of her. If only he could find a way to tell her. No, he couldn't. He would wait for it to fade, although he didn't want it to and he didn't think it would. What would he do?

At the bridge, Sakura and Naruto were already waiting. Kyuubi had fixed up Naruto's illness rather quickly. Sasuke's stomach twisted as he saw Sakura. _Doh, there is really something wrong with me_. He snapped at himself. Sakura's eyes were bright and she waved good morning to him.

"Oy… Sasuke," he approached the bridge to have Naruto asking him something right in his face. "Oy… are you okay? Your face is all red…"


	5. The Flower Blooms

 thanks for reviews, neon-kun and krabbypatties

Next chapter!

The Flower Blossoms

Practice was getting harder and harder all the time. Naruto was quickly catching up to Sasuke and Sakura, and all had improved greatly. Sasuke sometimes felt bad that his two teammates had suddenly put on a burst of work and caught up to him. He remembered when he had sneered at their clumsiness to do anything. But he refused to let this bother him, although he did try to work harder and strive to stay the best of the three. It was also especially hard for Sasuke because of his new found…feelings. They would be doing three way sparring, a complicated matter, when his eyes would notice Sakura. Whether she was swiftly retreating, only to throw herself back into battle again, or attacking one of them with vigor, hair whirling about, his heart skipped a beat whenever he saw her. _Love_. It sounded awkward even in his mind. It had been so long. However, these thoughts slowed him down, which often was rewarded with a strong kick or a tap of a blunted kunai to tell him he had been hurt. After practices, in his lonely dark house, he often thought on it. He had gone so long without affectionate emotions, he didn't know what he could do to let Sakura know. He could try to impress her, but he didn't know how…

Sakura hadn't let all this go unnoticed. She often caught Sasuke staring at her funny. She couldn't tell if it was dislike, anger, or confusion. He had no reason to hate her, did he? No, Sakura was one of his closest friends. She was also becoming increasingly alarmed at the growing feeling of affection for Sasuke, again. Sakura feared that again her mind and body would suffer and be weighed down by blindness. She desperately tried to get rid of it. She enjoyed her new skills and took pride in them. She valued her new friendship with Sasuke and didn't want to ruin it. How could she have thought that her crush was gone forever! Foolish. During practices, she sought out chances to fight Sasuke, or especially targeted him in three way combat practices in an attempt to convince herself that she didn't feel anything for him.

Still, the two spent more and more time on walks together, waking up early to meet each other, or staying out late after practices. On days off, they spent almost the entire day together. They enjoyed each other's company, and found they shared many interests, and discussed anything that even touched the subject of ninja. Sakura now suspected that Sasuke might have feelings for her, for the new Sakura. He hadn't been attracted to her at first because of her immaturity, but now she had shown who she really could be. She was close to surrendering to her feelings for him, but continued to fight, trying vainly. Secretly, she hoped he did like her, but she wasn't sure. She thought she was almost positive, but that tiny little sliver of doubt held her back. Little did she know, but it was the same for Sasuke. She was so cold, so in control of what emotions showed on her face and when, he couldn't tell. She used to like him…did she still? He recalled the look on her face as she stared steadily back at him that first day. _It's gone. I'm positive._ He told himself, and shook his head.

The very next morning, Sakura vanished from practice. They trained until early afternoon, then called it a day. The next day, they had a break, and Sasuke went to the oak tree near the edge of the village where he usually met Sakura. She didn't show up. The day after that, Sakura was still missing. Kakashi didn't seem to mind, and apparently knew what was going on. However, he would not reveal anything to Naruto's intense questioning, as Sasuke watched with a bored look. Inside though, his stomach was churning. _Did she change again? What might happen?_ _Maybe she didn't… Where is she, then? _

Sakura scribbled furiously on a piece of paper, her eyes dark in concentration as the afternoon sun streamed in through a nearby window. Tsunade walked into the room. It was one of the many side rooms that came off of the Hokage's main work room.

"What do you have?" The Hokage asked her. Sakura handed her the list. Tsunade read it. "Not bad. Some of these might be a little tricky, but considering what you've become, it shouldn't cause too much trouble. Keep thinking, and pick one you want to develop."

Sakura nodded without saying anything, and took the paper back. When Tsunade returned at dark, Sakura gave her the piece of paper. One line that was loaded with words was circled. Tsunade inspected it, and then told Sakura.

"Nice idea. We get started tomorrow morning, and get some sleep, you will need the energy."

What would be the fourth day of Sakura's sudden disappearance came, and Sasuke walked towards the bridge with heavy feet. He was getting seriously worried about her. His shoes suddenly tapped upon, the bridge, and he looked up, startled at how quickly he had arrived at the bridge. Sighing, he leaned back on the railing, and looked around at the early morning sky. An odd figure caught his attention. On the very top of a slender, tall tree, a familiar figure stood. Her hooded sweater was zipped up, and the calm day had no wind. She simply stood there, watching the sun slowly rise and the soft rainbow it made over the horizon from her high position.

Sasuke strolled over to the tree and looked up. In what he hoped was a casual voice, "Hey. Sakura. Nice to see you back." She looked down, and a smile spread across her face. She leapt off the top of the tree, and Sasuke's eyes widened. His arms automatically flew out, and caught her, his knees bending a little to take in her weight. She giggled at him.

"I could have landed safely, you know."

"Don't scare me like that." He said, wondering whether to be annoyed or relieved. She laughed.

"Don't be silly." To his surprise, she gave him a little kiss on his cheek before jumping out of his arms. She saw his shocked expression, his eyes motionless, and giggled again. Taking his hand, she dragged him towards the bridge again, and met up with Naruto, who of course, made a big hullabaloo about her coming back. Kakashi appeared later (late as usual) and smiled at them all.

"Hey, Sakura. Well… Let's go…eh?"

After their daily warm-ups, stuff like climbing trees and simple techniques, Sasuke and Naruto began to prepare themselves for the fight practice. But Sakura sat down. When asked why, she just said.

"Nah, I'm going to save my energy for later." This puzzled the two of them. There wasn't much left to do in training after their mock fights. Sometimes Sasuke trained his Chidori and Naruto his Rasengan, but Sakura didn't have either of that. Still, they continued with their mock fight.

It didn't last though, because there was one less person to pair up against , and the three way wouldn't work without a third person.

"I've got plenty of chakra left for Rasengan." Naruto mumbled to himself at the end. "I think I'll stay some more at the training grounds."

"I think we all will." Kakashi said, mildly. Naruto looked at Sakura, but at a nudge from Sasuke, both ran off through the treetops to the wall of thick natural stone that bulged out of the side of a hill away from the village. They arrived, breathing lightly, to find Kakashi and Sakura already awaiting them.

"What the…" Sasuke muttered, his neck prickling as he saw Sakura's cheerful…pretty… face. He pretended to ignore her, and pulled a gibbering Naruto over next to him as they faced the massive wall. It was pockmarked with the marks of multiple Chidori attacks and Rasengans. As Naruto began to collect his chakra, Sasuke began a sequence of rapid hand movements. He heard a light swishing sound, and saw a slender pair of white hands form another sequence, that he didn't recognize. He looked up to see Sakura, his hands freezing.

"What're you doing?" he asked her.

"Practicing." She replied, curtly, although flashing him a grin. He shrugged, and began to allow a bright electric blue ball form in his lowered hand. A swirling ball of blue lines appeared in Naruto's. To his surprise, something erupted from Sakura's hand. Any sign of chakra or electric flashes disappeared from the boys' hands. The girl didn't seem to notice anything. Her eyes had turned an alarming solid pink, and she didn't seem to see anything anymore. It wasn't hot pink (author: ew that's just ugly), it was a soft faded pink that radiated danger. Sasuke turned his attention to her upraised hand, her arm vertical above her head.

It was pink, first of all. Then his eyes adjusted to the glimmering brightness, and he saw what it really was. It was a flower petal. It was long, and the bottom of the petal where it would normally be attached to the flower was narrow. The petal started narrow, and gradually broadened until it was near the tip. Then it rounded off, leaving a blunt small rounded point at the tip of the petal. A purring sound filled the air, that made everyone's skin tingle. She stood there for a moment, her head drooping down, eyes almost closed, and the long ..chakra petal? spearing the sky from her hand. Then, her head lifted and her pink eyes opened wide, then narrowing in concentration. Her hand flashed downwards and out, and Sasuke felt wind blow past him. He turned on his Sharingan, and saw the power of the attack. Sakura had definitely improved a lot, the attack looked to take a lot of effort. He felt a resistance too, and somehow automatically knew that his Sharingan could not copy this, for a reason he did not know.

Sakura's arm flashed back and forth and when she stopped, Sasuke almost gasped at what he saw.

Sakura's weird little thing had left long thin gashes that looked very deep, spread across her part of the wall. Without saying anything, she extended the petal again, stepped closer to the wall, and thrust her hand so that it was inches away from the surface of the wall. The petal had sunk deep into the rock. Her eyes closed, and she moved her hand slowly in a circle, then pulled her hand with some effort, away from it. Along with it, a cylindrical chunk of stone fell out of the wall. Sasuke had watched the entire thing with amazement. Sakura's petal had sunk into the wall, and the top half of the petal had suddenly sliced sideways through the rock. As she moved her hand in the circle, the curved part of the petal had rotated around in a circle too, cutting out a cylinder. Pulling it out, the petal had gripped the back part of the cylinder, using the same style that ninjas used to climb trees and such. _What incredible control_, Sasuke thought. Feelings also seemed to emanate from the knife-like petal. There was, over all, concentration, deep and intense. There were others too, that seemed to single out people. Sasuke with his sharingan could tell there were others, but he could only find two in the purring sound. The other emotions probably singled out individuals. One was the concentration, and the other was a deep friendship. He thought he sensed something more in the friendship, but it wavered and he couldn't pinpoint it.

His attention was dragged back to Sakura as she let out a soft sigh, and her eyes darkened to a blackish green, but then lightened to their previous teal-green color. She grinned at the shocked faces of Naruto and Sasuke. Then, she knelt down beside the chunk of smooth rock, and a pink, tiny petal of pink chakra popped up from her index finger as she carved the genin team's name and Kakashi-sensei's name into it.

"Heyy, Sakura, you're being a showoff!" Naruto stammered.

"Impressive, Sakura." Kakashi said, smiling.

"Why'd you develop a technique like that?" Sasuke asked.

"It's the Full Bloom Technique, Tsunade-sama made up the name." Sakura replied, an ear-to-ear smile on her face. "I just got sick of watching you guys practice your power moves. Why can't I have one too? I am strong too, aren't I?"

She refused to answer any more questions. Kakashi announced he had yet another meeting to run to the next day, and told them they had a free day. Naruto automatically announced he was going to train anyways and then go eat some ramen at Ichiraku. Sasuke caught Sakura's eye and they silently agreed on the oak tree next morning.

They decided the day was over, even though it wasn't too late in the day. All had much energy left, because Sasuke and Naruto hadn't even fully used their attack on the stone wall before they stopped to watch Sakura. Naruto ran off to hang out with friends like Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Chouji and the sort. Without saying anything, Kakashi disappeared, and Sasuke and Sakura began to walk deeper into the woods.


	6. Surprises

D/C: I don't own any part of Naruto

I'm going to start making up a load of stuff. Like the new village.

Thanks for reviews, everyone! X) I love 'em.

Surprises

It was a beautiful day. The sky was clear and blue, and the sunlight mixed with the green leaves of the woods. Sakura had taken his hand and was swinging it about as they walked along the path. Sasuke felt happy. If only he could tell Sakura somehow. Somehow… He glanced sideways and down at Sakura cheerfully talking about something, and his ears turned themselves off again as he admired her. She was pretty, definitely. Cute, too. She understood people so easily, and knew what to say to comfort them. He was so different from her, why would she ever love him again?

"Sasuke?" Sakura was looking at him. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh… yeah I'm fine." He said.

"Hey I've got to tell you something." She said, suddenly. Sasuke's head snapped up.

'What?"

"I'm… I'm going to be gone for the next couple of weeks."

"Why!" Sakura looked somewhat taken aback at the amount of alarm in Sasuke's voice.

"Um… Hokage-sama wants me to come along to a trip to another one of the villages. It's one of the newer ones, and we want to make friendly relations with them. You could call it a bodyguard job, although I think Tsunade-sama really doesn't need too many. Plus, she offered to make me a chuunin if I took the offer."

He felt empty. Sakura gone. A bodyguard? What if someone attacked the group? She might die. He had to tell her. _Wait, don't be so hasty, _he told himself_, it's just an innocent little journey, don't lose your relationship with her just because you opened up. _

"S-Sakura… isn't this a little dangerous?" he asked her, nervously.

Sakura's eyes darkened. "I'm not a little girl anymore, Sasuke. I'm not weak, I'm just as strong as you or Naruto. Don't underestimate me. I plan on going. But-"

Sasuke's sense flew out of him and he roar at himself _TELL HER NOW!_

But… instead of saying anything, he stopped walking.

"Sasuke? There's something else, you know."

He didn't reply, but took her other hand in his and pulled her around to face him. Bending his neck slightly, he kissed her. He didn't care what would happen, not anymore.

Ever since she had told him about her trip with Tsunade, he had been acting quite strange. But as he stopped and took her other hand, she knew something weird was going on. What was up with him? She looked up into his face, her eyes lightening with questions. But then he kissed her, and everything blew off her mind like leaves on wind. In her mind, the Inner Sakura suddenly saw the corridor again. But this time, it was bright and vivid colors, and the pictures she thought long gone were suddenly back. The halves of torn paper with her and Sasuke on it were going back in time, slowly sealing themselves back into a whole piece of paper. Her feelings for Sasuke rushed back, and now, she knew, that it would just give her more strength, and nothing with her powers would change. She was in love, what could happen? Her feet tipped forward slightly to reach him better, and her wide eyes closed.

He pulled out of the kiss, and his eyes opened, looking at her.

"I'm… I'm sorry." He mumbled, looking down, and pulling his hands from hers, stuffing them in his pockets. "But… please, don't go. I don't know what came over me… I'm sorry." He said.

Sakura laughed, shakily, and reached out for his arm, drawing him close.

"It's okay, Sasuke. Really. I'm happy." She whispered softly.

Sasuke's heart seemed to lighten, and tender memories of his family and parents rushed into his mind. She had accepted him. She liked him back. Maybe it was even love. He would love her like his family that had been taken from him so early in his life. Except he wouldn't let Sakura slip away. He'd protect her with his life.

"But… you're leaving. I can't let you just leave!" he said.

Sakura laughed again. "That's the something else that you ignored. You're coming too. The village elders insisted that the Uchiha genius ninja go with the Hokage, too. You can become a chuunin! Naruto's going off to train for two years with some white haired old guy, and since it's time we became chuunins, the village elders might make him a chuunin too. He's got the Kyuubi, so he can master almost anything with the right control and training."

"I'm coming?" Sasuke asked. This really was the best day of his life. He could go with Sakura, his newfound love.

"Yup. Jiraiya, that's Naruto's teacher, is going to tell Naruto today. We'll see him off tomorrow morning, and we leave at noon. We're going to the Hidden Light. It belongs to the land of Day or something. It's got _two villages! _Hidden Light and Hidden Dark, they're called. It's nuts! We're going with Tsunade-sama, Hyuuga Kirari-san, and Yuzuru-san! Wow, I never thought we'd be able to go on such a trip. Yuzuru and Hyuuga Kirari-san! Think of it!"

Sasuke's arm curled around Sakura's waist, slowly but with confidence, as he thought about it. Sakura smiled quietly. It had come true. She was still slightly in shock. It seemed so natural, that they were still talking like this. The boy she had never really truly forgot about loved her back. She leaned her head against his shoulder, timidly, as they began to walk again.

He spoke up, "Yuzuru-san? Really! And Kirari-san. And we're going with them!" she looked up and saw him smiling at her. His face came closer to hers and her eyes seemed to give a flicker of light red as she blushed right before they kissed again. "I can't wait." Sasuke whispered in her ear, giving her shivers. Sasuke tried to kiss her again but Sakura put a finger to his lips.

"Take it slow, okay?" she smiled at him. Sasuke turned red and apologized.

"Sorry." He mumbled. He wanted to let her know how much he loved her, her kindness, who she was. As close as she had become to his heart, he had still told no one of the true horror he had gone through that night he met Itachi over the bodies of his dead parents.

They continued their leisurely walk through the woods, and the night was falling fast. They reached a grand old willow with its drooping branches creating a lush green curtain, and a private room in the middle. It was their favorite spot in the entire woods. Brushing aside the green leaves and flexible branches, they sat against the willow's trunk. Sakura's head tipped onto Sasuke's shoulder, and he returned the gesture, fondly putting an arm around Sakura's shoulder and leaning his head on Sakura's. There, they talked quietly for about an hour, about the journey, what it would be like, and others of the short. Sasuke didn't dare try to make Sakura promise she would try to avoid getting hurt. She wouldn't take it well. _She's right_, Sasuke reminded himself,_ kunoichis deserve their ninja pride, do they not? I'm not being fair. If anything, the kunoichis are sometimes better… _

Before they left the willow for the village, Sakura's Full Bloom Technique extended a tiny petal out of her fingertip, and she traced Sasuke's and her name again, but in the tree trunk. Then the glow of the petal disappeared, and instead a greenish blue cloud of fuzzy lights appeared around her hand, and she healed the tree trunk to prevent any damage. Their names would live forever in the tree. Her job finished, she turned to Sasuke and smiled at him, her eyes light.

They went by tree back to the village, to make it faster, as the day was long gone. As they passed the training grounds and arrived at the oak tree where they met, they dropped to the ground. This time, Sakura kissed Sasuke lightly on his lips and brushed his cheek with a finger.

"Remember to pack. Nine o' clock we see Naruto off. See you tomorrow." She whispered, and ran off towards her house. Sasuke stood, leaning against the tree trunk, watching her go, her long ponytail lashing back and forth as she ran. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing. _I definitely love that girl_. He smiled to himself, and started off for his house, wrapped in his own thoughts.


	7. Waiting to Leave

D/C: I do not own any part of Naruto.

Thanks to all my readers!

(This chapter is more like a pre-setting till they leave and start the journey to the Hidden Light. There's light …fluff… between Sasuke and Sakura)

Waiting to Leave

Sasuke awoke early the next morning, and after eating breakfast, immediately opened up his drawer where he kept everything he would need for a journey. Ninjas had to be prepared, and with light supplies. Calmly and quietly, he packed everything into his brown backpack. At eight, he walked to Sakura's house, and knocked on the door. He was greeted by Sakura's mother.

"Ohayo, Haruno-san." (sorry if the grammars wrong I'm just doing this by ear) he said politely.

"Ah, Sasuke. Sakura will be right down." Sakura's mom said. She smiled at him, recalling her daughter's crush on him. Apparently, she didn't know things were up and running with Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke let it stand.

A few seconds later, Sakura appeared with her own black backpack.

"Hey, Sasuke." She greeted him, smiling happily. "Let's go, eh?" She turned, and gave her mom a hug. "I said bye to Dad already. I'll be back soon!" she said to her mother, who was beginning to sniffle.

"Don't get into trouble, okay, Sakura?" she called after them.

"I won't!" Sakura promised.

"Hmph, you never promised that to me, did ya?" Sasuke joked. However, Sakura's eyes flashed.

"I'm a kunoichi… ninjas do get into trouble sooner or later. Don't be stupid. I said that just to calm her down." She snapped.

"Sorry, sorry." Sasuke cringed. But after a moment, Sakura took his hand, and they walked close together.

"So… can you tell me why you changed…now?" Sasuke asked Sakura, hesitantly.

"Like I said before, to become a better me." Sakura said stonily, and Sasuke fell silent. A minute later, she added, "Fine. That night you told me to shut up, and just work harder, I felt devastated. I had liked you for a long long time, and my first chance to really get to know you, you made it clear that you didn't want to get any closer. It hurt me." Sasuke frowned, feeling embarrassed at himself.

"Sorry."

"No, don't be. It was for the better, actually." Sakura's voice was soft. "I went to bed and I lay there. It felt like my heart was being torn in half. All my dreams and pictures of us together were ruined. Then I fell asleep, and forgot it all. I woke up the next morning feeling different, so different from last night. It was a little alarming… I couldn't figure out the extent of my improvement, and most of all why. Tsunade-sama just told me to take it and go. She said I would figure out later. I guess she was right. The moment I… kissed you… it all came back to me. Before, I was afraid to tell you that even after I changed, I was still in love with you, although that was what I thought was my largest improvement. After all, it _is_ kind of weird. You made me change because you rejected me, so any hopes with you were crushed, and I didn't have the self esteem to try and keep them up. My crush on you disappeared, and with that, the blindfold on me that kept me from doing anything well. I wanted to let you feel powerful, but I ended up proving myself worthless. Anyways, I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid that if I truly admitted to myself that I was in love with you again, it would hold me down again."

All of this came out, slowly, but steadily. Sakura had nothing to fear, she was talking with Sasuke. He was silent for a moment, absorbing it all.

Then…

"Thanks for telling me, Sakura." He said, gently. Sakura really sounded a little confused, and he didn't want to make anything worse. He turned to her, and tucked a piece of her pink hair behind her ear, and looked at her.

"You really are pretty, Sakura. You know that? A flower." He said, smiling at her, and kissing her nose. She giggled.

"Thank you."

After a few more minutes, they arrived at one of the Village Gates, where people were beginning to gather. Naruto and Jiraiya popped up a few minutes after Sakura and Sasuke arrived. There weren't too many people, as many villagers still disliked Naruto, and would as long as they lived.

Naruto came over to talk to Sakura and Sasuke a few minutes before he had to leave.

"Ero-sennin's gonna train me for next two years or so! So when you guys get back from that Village of Light or whatever, there's only gonna be the two of you! I'll see you guys in two years, you know. Long time… I'll challenge you guys when you get back, and I'll win."

"Hmph." Sasuke gave that non-committal sound that all ninjas knew him by. "You wish, Naruto."

Naruto ignored him and continued on, "Though by the looks of it, two of you alone won't really bother you two, would it, Sakura-cha-aaaa…. Yeah." Sakura's eyes were still a bright emerald but they had gone a shade darker.

"If in two years you come back and you still call me Sakura-chan… ooooh you're going to lose that fight." She snarled, waving a fist.

"HOYYY, Naruto!" Jiraiya called to him. "We're going!"

"Hai, haiii.." Naruto muttered. Then he turned to Sasuke and Sakura. "Well then… bye!" He grinned and walked off backwards, still waving to them, as Jiraiya finished giving the latest … inappropriate book to Kakashi and walked off through the gates.

As the white haired hermit and the blonde kid disappeared, Sakura gave a sigh.

"Konoha's going to be quiet for so long without him." She said.

"No kidding." Sasuke muttered. He didn't say it out loud, but… of course, he too would miss the noisy, obnoxious team-mate. "Where do we go until its our time to leave?"

"Hokage's room."

"Hn."

Tsunade had been at the farewell party, but had quickly dropped off just to say goodbye to Naruto, and tap the necklace she had given him and told him to wear it well. To Jiraiya, she simply snapped at him not to transfer any perverted ideas to Naruto, although she said it was going to wipe off onto him anyways.

Sakura knocked on the Hokage's room door, and opened it.

"Tsunade-sama!" she called brightly.

"SSSSSAAAAAAAAAKKKURRAAAAAAA!"

_Shit… no sama…no sama… forgot that…oh dear… _Sakura's eyes bulged. Sasuke looked somewhat concerned.

"Eh… Sakura…what's wrong?"

Tsunade seemed to grow in size as she approached the pair.

"Sakuuraa… I said NO HONORIFIC!" she roared. Then she noticed…Sasuke, and raised an eyebrow at Sakura, whose eyes flared with _FORGET WHAT EVER I TOLD YOU_. Tsunade blinked, then continued.

"Good morning, Sasuke!" she said.

"Hokage-sama." He replied, a note of respect in his voice.

Tsunade scratched the back of her head and said with a tight restrained smile, "No no, Tsunade is just fine."

"That's alright, Hokage-sama, I'll stay with this." Sasuke returned, stubbornly. Tsunade blanched, and her eyes narrowed.

"Tsunade, please?" Sakura interrupted. Tsunade gave a 'hmph' to match Sasuke's and led them both to a side room. It was comfortably furnished, with a bed in a corner, and a couch with a table in front of it.

She ushered them in, and then closed the door, saying, "Be ready at 11:30, remember."

After the door closed, Sasuke said, "So, flower, two weeks with us together. Hm?"

Sakura smiled and said, "It's not just the two of us, okay? We have to remember our duty. We have to protect Tsunade. If its needed, we'll have to forget about the two of us for most of this trip, and treat each other as teammates, because its needed. Okay, Sasuke?"

Sasuke gave a mock grumble, and Sakura poked him playfully in reproach. He caught her hand and pulled her into a kiss. She returned it willingly, smiling into his face, and stroking his hair as their lips touched. She felt his strong arms slide under her knees and behind her back as he lifted her onto his lap, and she giggled, feeling like a child. He smiled back at her, and kissed her again, gently, but with more passion, her head turning sideways to meet his.

Sakura was breathless and she was enjoying herself (who wouldn't?) but she got out, "Sasukee… we're in the Hokage's office! We can't do this!"

"Nahh, what can she do?" Sasuke whispered into her ear. Sakura relaxed back, and leaned on his chest as his arms held her to him. She felt him nibble on her ear, affectionately. But still, they exchanged light kisses, but refrained from anything too big.

"Hn… we still have two hours! What can we do for two whole hours? Maybe we should stop off at home first." Sakura muttered after a few minutes of quiet. She felt Sasuke's body move as he worked his shoulders.

"I'm getting nervous. It's that feeling you get before you go out on a bigger mission other than pulling weeds. Something that might involve battles."

"We're not that weak, Sasuke, calm down." Sakura soothed.

"We're not that strong either." He returned. Sakura sighed, Sasuke could be so snappy when he got worked up. She slid off of his lap, and told him to face the other way. He did so, although hesitantly as though he didn't know what was going on. Closing her eyes, Sakura reached inside her mind and touched on the natural strength Tsunade had told her to master when she had been developing the Full Bloom. Then she laid her hands on Sasuke's shoulders, and began to massage him, feeling the tenseness in him. _Wow… when he get's worked up…he REALLY gets worked up_.

Sasuke felt the new and powerful strength in Sakura's hands and they rubbed and kneaded at his shoulders. It was relaxing. He didn't know how Sakura passed the time, but for him, it passed by all too quickly before Tsunade popped in through the door and said, "11:30! Up we go!"


	8. Start of the Journey

yeah neonkun, sasuke's a little OOC but in the actual anime/manga…can u picture him in love or in a couple OO scary ish if he isn't ooc… well I'll try my best.

Heres chap 8

The Start of the Journey

Tsunade opened the door, and found Sasuke and Sakura sitting together, talking about some book or another.

"11:30, up we go!" she yelled, then disappeared as they heard her already walking down the stairs to the village below.

Sakura exchanged a glance with Sasuke, and they got up together, and left for the Village Gate where they saw Naruto off that morning.

But as they approached the Gate, Sasuke saw Sakura's eyes darken to hide emotions. Then, she went on tiptoe and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"The mission starts now, Sasuke. Our duties are the priority." She said to him.

Sasuke sighed, and replied, "Alright, flower. See you." And he watched as Sakura moved away from his side, though only by two feet. He realized that although Sakura loved him, again, her changes had made her more responsible. He remembered the day when she had snapped at Naruto for complaining about her leading practices that first day, and her hard look at Sasuke when he tried to reproach her. He should follow her example. After all, if he continued thinking about Sakura 24/7 he wouldn't be able to improve. He needed to train more. Itachi flashed through his mind. With this, his face became flat. Forget Sakura for the mission, the point was to protect Hokage-sama and gain strength. To kill him.

Tsunade, who had arrived several minutes before, was standing at the gate with two very tall ninjas. She instantly saw the space between Sasuke and Sakura, Sakura's black eyes, and Sasuke's impassive face. She smiled to herself, _good, Sakura._

The three ninjas watched the two younger ones approach them.

As Sasuke and Sakura reached the trio, both kept their eyes on the ground but said in a clear voice together, "Hokage-sama. Yuzuru-kun. Kirari-san." Then, they looked up.

Tsunade was turning a stubborn red, telling Sakura that she was _so_ going to pay for this. But still, Tsunade continued with the introductions. "Yes, that's Yuzuru and Hyuuga Kirari. Yuzuru, Kirari, this is Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke."

However, Sakura was looking at the man and woman beside Tsunade. She thought that for a mission that considered transporting the Hokage, more than such a small team should be used for safety's sake. But then again, Tsunade was a formidable opponent. Plus, Yuzuru-kun and Kirari-san were two of the best ninjas she knew.

Yuzuru had no last name. The handsome ninja had arrived in Konoha four years ago with a forehead protector that did not have any village's symbol scratched into it and had simply announced that he wished to join the village. After undergoing multiple truth tests and questioning, they arrived at the conclusion that he did not mean Konoha any harm. After undergoing multiple test battles and spars and technique displays, they also arrived at the conclusion that he was one of the most skilled ninja, Jounin level. He quickly rose through the ranks of ninja in terms of respect and fame around Konoha. He was very tall, and his black hair lay flat and long, to his chin. He was also village-known as one of the most blunt speakers and he wasn't afraid to express opinion. _Kind of like Sasuke_, Sakura thought, looking at Yuzuru-kun's proud face.

Hyuuga Kirari was also very tall, respected and dignified and a little odd looking. However, she was Hyuuga Hiashi's younger sister, and was a powerful Byakugen ninja, so what did her looks have to do with her?. Her faded white eyes actually seemed a little light peach colored. She had a strange hair color, a very dark green that was tied back in a high ponytail, with her bangs hanging over the forehead protector.

Sasuke thought he liked Yuzuru-kun. He looked strong.

Until…

"They look small… Hokage-sama, are you sure you want these two coming with us? They don't look like they'll add up to much." Yuzuru spoke up.

"Oy, now, Yuzuru." Kirari chided softly, "That's no way to greet fellow ninja, is it?" Sakura automatically knew she liked Kirari, she seemed wise, but Yuzuru was something different.

"Looks are deceiving in this case, Yuzuru-kun." Sakura retorted angrily. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he thought, _Tch, Sakura what are you doing. Damn, you never did this before!_ He shot a look sideways at Sakura, who continued to stare straight at Yuzuru.

"Prove me wrong. I'll believe it when I see it, flower." _How condescending! _The inner Sakura roared, begging the Outside Sakura to try and beat the crap out of the tall man. But then Yuzuru continued, "And what of the Uchiha boy? Not speaking up, are you. Wise, but I heard that the genius boy ninja was more hotheaded."

"Sorry to disappoint, Yuzuru-kun." Sasuke kept his eyes lowered. _Nevermind, I really don't like this guy. What an idiot._

Tsunade was looking seriously pissed now. "_Yes_, Yuzuru, I'm confident in their skills. Play nice, will you? You too, Sakura."

They started off down the road into the world beyond the village.

"How many days' traveling?" Sakura asked.

"About two weeks to get there. We might stop for a day at other villages though, because our journey takes us through Rain and Grass." Kirari said.

"How come we're only visiting the Hidden Light? The Land of Day has Hidden Night, too."

"The Dark declined to a peaceful meeting." Tsunade responded, her face darkening.

"Wait…that's not right!" Sakura protested. "They're representing the same country as Light! Why would they country of Day let that happen? One village says yes, the other no?"

"The Countries trust the Ninja Villages with their own business. They don't, nor do they have the time, to hang over the Village's shoulder constantly." Tsunade said, shortly.

"Hm…. Light and Dark are going to have a disagreement one day. It won't be pretty, probably over favoritism." Yuzuru mused.

"But when it does, hopefully the Country will interfere." Kirari said.

"Can we pick up the pace, just a little?" Tsunade suggested.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Sasuke agreed, and all five leapt into the trees. He had been getting bored with the slow walking, even if only ten minutes had gone by.

"Sasuke, you will call me Tsunade." She said grumpily. Sasuke gave a "hmf" as they moved along quickly in the tree tops. Tsunade growled and added, "I command you."

Sasuke's face fell.

"H-hokage sama, that's rude! It isn't allo-" Yuzuru was interrupted by Tsunade.

"You too, Yuzuru. I'll punch the next person that calls me Hokage-sama or Tsunade-sama.

The four ninja accompanying her fell silent. A punch from Tsunade was _not_ cool. After a few minutes, Sakura's sandal strap came loose and they stopped on a broad and massive tree branch.

"Though, of course I can still call the pretty little flower Sakura-chan, can't I, flower?" Yuzuru teased, a hint of malice in his voice. Sasuke, who was standing beside the kneeling Sakura, felt her bristle beside him. He felt himself snap at Yuzuru.

"Don't call her Flower." He snarled.

"Why not? Only you can? Is she yours?" Yuzuru emphasized the last word. Sasuke flushed. Sakura cleared her throat, nudging Sasuke. He ignored her warnings.

"Woah, hey guys, let's stop, alright?" Kirari tried to break it up.

Sasuke ignored her and went on, still a little red, "What if she is, Yuzuru?" Sakura slapped herself in the forehead.

"You guys sound like six year olds." Tsunade snorted.

"Tsunade, please. Hey, Uchiha, I'm your elder, where's my honorific? Hm?" he sneered.

"Let's say the respect needed for it is MISSING." Sasuke snapped.

The exchange would have gone on if Kirari hadn't come up behind Yuzuru and touched his shoulder. He twitched at the touch, then turned his head as Kirari whispered soft words into his ear. Then she smoothed the hair on the back of his head, patting it, and went back to stand beside Tsunade. Yuzuru apparently calmed down.

"Fine. Leave it without then." He said coolly.

_Aww, they look cute together._ Sakura realized the two were a couple (just going out, mind you). _But how does Kirari stand him? _Sakura thought. But then she remembered how quiet, terse and expressionless Sasuke was to strangers and even friends, but how he was so tender when he was with her. She thought she understood, as she wrestled with her sandal strap. It was acting up and wouldn't loop back through.

"These are new!" she complained, tugging at it. "I didn't bring any extra pairs!"

"Let me try, Sakura." Yuzuru used her actual name for the first time. Then, he stopped and looked at Sasuke. "Any problems with me fixing her shoe, midget?" he asked, both in a sarcastic but mild tone.

Sasuke didn't want to sound foolish saying 'a problem? Its her shoe, it's okay with me', so he replied, "Tch…three inches shorter doesn't mean I'm a midget."

Yuzuru fixed her shoe so well, Sakura said it felt new. Sasuke felt a tiny twinge of jealousy when Sakura thanked Yuzuru, but then reminded himself it was just appreciation. How jumpy he was…

The rest of the first day went reasonably well, and they traveled fast by tree-jumping or following a dirt road, always aware for attackers. Yuzuru stayed up front, Kirari stayed behind Tsunade, and Sasuke and Sakura were on the left and right.

At night, they found a clearing in the middle of a large clump of bushes. No fire was allowed. It may have seemed unreasonable, they hadn't heard any protests against Konoha at all lately, but hey, it was the Hokage, they had to take cautions.

Kirari and Sakura went to fetch some cold water to fill the water bottles all five carried. At a nearby stream, Sakura asked Kirari, "Kirari-san, didn't… didn't you think Yuzuru-san was a little mean today?"

Kirari sighed, but smiled, her peach eyes stood out in the darkening night sky. "A little, yes. He doesn't mean any of it. He could tell already that you two were 'more friendly' (Sakura blushed) with each other. He does that, you know, he plays with strangers. He's cautious when he thinks he needs to be, but if its someone who he doesn't know but he has to work with them, he has fun with them. He was playing with Sasuke, because he knew it would bother him. But when you earn his trust, Yuzuru's so nice. He's thoughtful and protective."

_He IS like Sasuke!_ Sakura thought. "I see…" she said. "okay, I just wanted to check."

"Sakura, Sakura. I'm a Byakugan user, and like you notice with Neji… a lot of skilled Byakugans read faces and emotions relatively easily. I told you what you really wanted to know, you just wanted to know more about Yuzuru-san, didn't you?"

Sakura blushed, and her eyes went dark.

"Well, yes you're right, with that funny face control you have, it's harder with you. But when you're with Sasuke you tend to let it slip." Kirari smiled, kindly. Sakura blushed, and reluctantly let her normal eye color return again. They returned to the camp a few minutes later.

"Get some sleep, everybody. We're going to get started early, tomorrow." Tsunade said.

Sasuke unrolled his sleeping bag/futon/thing and lay down on it. He knew Sakura was just on the other side of the clearing, but he missed her anyways. They were too distant, and he had to wait two weeks until they could spend sometime together while waiting for Tsunade to finish her business in Light! He turned over, and heard a quiet scraping sound. A hand touched his cheek, and he knew it was Sakura. She put down her sleeping bag next to him, and lay down. He put an arm across her side and pulled her closer to him, feeling her snuggle against his body.


	9. The Two Weeks

D/C- I do not own Naruto

Here's another … iono… lets call it a "filler" chapter… some fluff and basically overview of the two weeks

The Two Weeks

Sakura woke up to Tsunade's gentle shaking of her, Sasuke, Kirari then Yuzuru. She stirred against Sasuke's side and slowly got up. She shook the sleep from her head, and began to pack up, re-organizing everything in their bags. As they moved around the camp, cleaning up what little they had done, none of the elders gave any sign of problem with Sakura sleeping next to Sasuke. Every night after that when they stopped to camp, one of them would take out the two sleeping bags and place them together. Anyways…ten minutes after they awoke, they stretched their muscles and then jumped up into the trees, surrounding Tsunade as always.

There were no ambushes or incidents at all for most of the trip, which was mostly still in Konoha. The second half was where they arrived in Rain and Grass.

When they reached Grass and told the gatekeepers their business at about mid-afternoon, they walked in through the village Gate and everyone gasped in delight. Tsunade had already visited this village several times, the Kage of that village was a close friend, but everytime it still took her breath away.

There was waist high grass that was decorated with flowers and shrubbery everywhere, if a house or a building did not occupy that space. Sunlight streamed in through the holes in the sky where clouds had failed to cover, and made the flowers simply glow. They were led to their rooms for that one night. Kirari-san and Yuzuru-kun had one room, Sasuke and Sakura another, and Tsunade had her own. Multiple seals and protective jutsus were laid about Tsunade's room for those who were unwanted. The Hokage couldn't go unprotected. Sasuke and Sakura had to demonstrate the counter-jutsu for the three elders about ten times in a row to show that if a fireball came rushing at their face, they knew what to do. Tsunade took a quick shower, then bustled off to the Kage's building with Yuzuru-kun and Kirari-san, with a rushed warning to Sasuke and Sakura to stay out of trouble. They were only to visit/stay in the specialized garden in a corner of the village near their hotel, or they had to stay in their room. The garden was theirs for that day, the village occupants had agreed to let the pair have their time in the garden alone. The door swung shut, and Sasuke and Sakura were left in their room.

"That garden sounds pretty neat. Imagine what it's like if its better than what's outside right now! It must be beautiful!" Sakura said, enthusiastically. "Let's go!"

The gate swished closed on a soft dirt path, as Sasuke closed it gently behind them. He turned to find Sakura simply standing there looking at it. The sun was faded behind the clouds, but the beauty of the garden was not diminished. The high grass cast a gentle green over everything. Bushes and small trees were scattered about the huge garden. Sasuke walked up behind Sakura from the gate and took her hand. She turned to look up at him, and he smiled at her.

"It's pretty isn't it?" he asked her.

"It's gorgeous…" she said, quietly.

"Like you…" Sasuke said, smoothing her hair as they stood taking in the scene. Sakura blushed but her eyes lightened as she relaxed. They were alone in the garden. For the next ten minutes, they roamed about the vast area of flowers, grass, and winding dirt paths, wondering at all the different blossoms and flowers. Then, in the very back, they found a small group of willow trees.

"Willows! Like in Konoha!' Sakura exclaimed, delighted. It was almost like home as they brushed aside the swaying, limp branches and sat down against the trunk. Sasuke had not let go of Sakura's hand the entire time, and he squeezed it affectionately. She smiled at him and gave him a light kiss on the nose. They had some quiet talk as the sun went lower and lower in the sky, with Sasuke's head lying comfortably on Sakura's lap. Unexpectedly, he felt tired, and his eyes fluttered closed. Sakura sat for a while on her own, looking down at the sleeping Sasuke. She knew she loved him, and he loved her back, but neither had fully said it yet. It didn't bother her, but she thought about it a little.

After half an hour of letting Sasuke sleep, she woke him.

"You want to go back to the hotel and sleep a bit? They'll send us food." She asked him quietly. He got up and shook his head. He felt fine now, he had just needed light rest for a while.

"Nah, I'm fine. I'll just go back and shower a bit and we can spend some more time together. I missed you, you know." He said. Sakura smiled.

"Yeah, me too." She replied, and kissed him gently on the lips. They went back to the hotel in the growing darkness, and Sakura closed the door after them. Sasuke immediately went into the bathroom to shower to wake himself up, and Sakura set about getting the things she needed that night, and making sure they were ready to go the next morning.

He came out of the bathroom and saw Sakura's back to him. He walked up behind her and tapped her shoulder. As she turned around, he met her with a kiss. She returned it willingly, her hands finding her way to his shoulder and the back of his head, clinging to him. They broke the kiss and Sakura giggled at him, and he simply gave a quiet smile. He sat down on a chair, looking at her.

"You're beautiful, Flower." He said, using his pet name for her. "Come here." She smiled and made a little twirl before walking over to the chair and straddling his legs. Then, she bent over, putting her hands on his cheeks and gave him a deep kiss, asking entrance to his mouth with a coyly playing tongue. He gave it to her, and stroked her hair as they kissed. They broke apart and he picked her up and put her back onto his lap so that her back was on his chest. Sasuke kissed her neck and gave little kisses to her ears, playfully tickling her on her stomach. She laughed, twisting in his arms to escape from his dancing fingers.

"Sasuke, stop it!" she laughed.

"I will, if you'll stay with me right here forever." He replied with that quiet smile of his. She turned to look at him, her ever-changing eyes looking deep into his dark black ones.

"Of course, Sasuke." She promised. "I promise." Sasuke's smile grew even bigger and he even laughed a little, kissing her on the nose and then the mouth.

"I'm tired, let's go to sleep?" Sakura suggested. Sasuke nodded, noticing how heavy his eyelids seemed to be getting. They slid into bed and Sasuke's arm drew Sakura close to him. They fell asleep together.

Kirari and Yuzuru came to check on them when Tsunade came back from her dinner with the Kage. The two young ninjas were sound asleep in each other's arms.

"How adorable." Yuzuru's voice held no disdain or sarcasm, now, it was soft and kind.

"Let them sleep, Yuzuru." Kirari said, her peach eyes seeing how tired the two were. It was a hard journey for younger ones. They closed the door.

When they arrived at Rain a few days later (hey, Grass is a small country), it was gray and dreary. The sun came out about once every month, and it wasn't the day that day. Tsunade, accompanied by Yuzuru and Kirari, went out to have lunch, dinner, and discussions about political happenings yet again with the Rain's Kage. There was no bright garden to distract Sakura from the grayness, and the pair simply spent the day inside.

Basically, the two weeks of the journey to Day passed uneventfully. Yuzuru and Sasuke came to a grudging respect for each other, and all was well. When they passed through the smaller countries of Rain and Grass and visited the villages, they spent a day there as Tsunade reinforced relations, and re-established herself as a powerful Hokage. Early morning, a while after they woke up and got going again, they reached the Hidden Light's gate.

"This is the Hidden Light Village. Who are you and state your business?" a voice called out from up high.

Tsunade's voice rang out, hard and clear. "I am Tsunade, the Hokage of Konoha. With me are Yuzuru, Hyuuga Kirari, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Let me in." Her command was like steel, even though it was not her Village. She didn't care… Kages were to be respected.

The gate swung open.


	10. Shadow, Flower and Light

D/C I don't own Naruto

Hmm…I don't think I've been completely happy with chaps 8 and 9, I rushed it too much… I think I wanted to get through that stuff… oh well… I've been waiting to write this chappie… It's gonna be pretty long

Neonkun: you're right… I don't like the past couple of chapters, and detailing parts I don't like makes me feeling like im screwing up my writing my apologies

Shadow, Flower and Light

Tsunade's voice rang out, hard and clear. "I am Tsunade, the Hokage of Konoha. With me are Yuzuru, Hyuuga Kirari, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, all of Konoha. Let me in." Her command was like steel, even though it was not her Village. She didn't care… Kages were to be respected.

The gate swung open.

They walked through the massive wrought-iron gates and quickly shielded their eyes. It had become unusually sunny as they approached Light, but this was just too much.

The houses and buildings all around the village were all light colors, some pastel and some bright and vivid. The individual house had nicely matched colors, a blue house and a white roof for example, with pretty white shutters. However, all the individual specialties blurred together made an eyesore. It was only increased by the insane amount of sunlight flooding the entire village, bouncing off of every neon color there.

"My eyyesss… they buuurn!" Sakura groaned while Yuzuru-kun gave loud grumbles. Sakura concentrated, and she sensed her pupils become so much smaller, and the world dimmed its blazing colors. She lowered her hand hesitantly. Sasuke was beside her, his face in a look of annoyance and determination to keep his eyes open as his eyes squinted under his hand.

"Damn." He snarled as he tried to look at the ground but was met by bright sandy yellow pebbles. Kirari-san's peach eyes were almost shut and she shot Sakura a playful 'jealous' look at Sakura's little points of black that were her pupils.

Tsunade alone stood straight and tall, her eyes narrowed against the bright light, but alert anyways, staring out at the village. After a few minutes, Sasuke, Yuzuru-kun and Kirari-san were able to recover and peer about the village. They were on a high hill; the village was further down in a mini valley. Below them, a slow procession of ninja were approaching them. Soon, the ninja met them. Sasuke saw markings on their forehead protectors that looked a little like this: \, like the rays of the sun.

"Only four… Hokage-sama?" a pleasant voice asked from under the hat of a Kage.

"Four is sufficient," Tsunade replied with a smile as the Kage took off the hat. The five of them found themselves staring at a man around 35. He was young, that was sure, but his gray eyes told of wisdom. He had light purple hair that was cut short, but lay flat on his head.

"I see. Welcome to the Hidden Light, Hokage-sama." A warm smile spread across his face. "Who are these four?"

Tsunade gestured at the four of them to step forward, and named them as they did. "Yuzuru, Hyuuga Kirari, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke." The Light's Kage did not say anything at Yuzuru's lack of a last name. His brow creased slightly at Sasuke's name, but he said nothing.

"But quickly, we must go to business, should we not? The Land of Fire would like to offer friendship to the Land of Day." Tsunade said, and Yuzuru and Kirari were at her side instantaneously.

"Of course. To the two young ones, a note. You are allowed anywhere in the village, the villagers are kind and will respect you." The Kage said. He met Sakura's eyes, then Sasuke's, and both knew that he was trusting them not to cause any trouble. Then he added, "A tour guide will come soon to help you if you need."

"Yes sir." They said, keeping their eyes to the ground, and when they looked back up, the company of ninja and the two Kages were far down the road, going towards a tall yellow building that dwarfed the rest of the village.

"Anywhere…" Sasuke murmured. "What an idiot. No one trusts a stranger."

"Uchiha Sasuke!" Sakura chided, "We're in the Hidden Light, not Hidden Leaf. You keep your opinions to yourself! I think the Kage is a very kind man. Respect him some, won't you?"

"Hai, hai…" Sasuke winced. They were still standing there a while off from the gate. They didn't know where to go. The village was huge for a relatively new place and there hadn't been any specific instructions on where to go.

"Didn't he mention a tour guide?" Sakura asked.

Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes narrowed and his eyes jerked to the side. Sakura sensed it too, and her eyes went black and she tensed. A pattering sound came from behind them.

"Ohayo gozaimasu!" a happy high voice sounded out from behind them. They turned around. "Oh..there's only two of you? You're my age! Oh, that's wonderful!"

A tall slender girl was behind them, with a smile on her face as she let the words flood out of her. She really seemed to be happy to see them. She had long black hair that was not tied back and she had a light yellow shirt with yellow borders that folded over in the front like Tsunade's, and a pair of half pants the same pretty faded yellow. Her forehead protector glinted from around her thigh, opposite her kunai holster. She had startling dark blue eyes that seemed a little off with her black hair.

"Who are you." It was more of a demand than a question as Sasuke said it, short and impatient. Sakura glared at him. Had she not just said that they were in a foreign village? Jeez, Sasuke, how could he act like that?

The girl cocked her head, also realizing the foolishness of Sasuke's behavior. However, she took it in stride and continued, "I'm Nakamura Naoko. Your guide for the next three days! Though it should really be me asking, shouldn't it?" she giggled and tossed her hair. A wary feeling started tugging nervously at Sakura's mind. Sasuke looked at her grudgingly.

"Sasuke." He said. Then, after Sakura stared at him, he added, "I'm Uchiha Sasuke, Nakamura-san." He even added a small honorific.

Sakura gave an easy smile, although her eyes remained black, and said, "Hi, Nakamura-san! I'm Haruno Sakura."

"An Uchiha and a flower!" Naoko sounded delighted. "Oh, just call me Naoko."

"Um, Naoko… why is it so bright? It's unnatural." Sakura asked. Sasuke rubbed at his eyes, remembering the blazing light as soon as they set foot in the village.

"Well, it's the Village of Light, is it not? I'm sorry, Uchiha-kun, does it bother you?" she seemed concerned, and Sakura flinched as Naoko put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke straightened and shrugged off Naoko's hand. "Just Sasuke. I'm fine. Naoko, can you tell us where the training grounds are?"

They arrived at a spacious clearing, with a light brown packed dirt ground, which was surrounded by a light green fence. Naoko stayed outside, and let Sasuke and Sakura into the large ring. They asked for a large thick durable item that could be damaged…severely damaged. She didn't make a comment, but gave a giggly little smile and obeyed, flipping her hair and looking at Sasuke as she pulled out a big, thick, but flat tall thing that looked like a two-foot thick screen. Sasuke and Sakura looked at it doubtfully. That thing could not possibly withstand Chidori or a Full Bloom.

"Go on, it's okay if you break it." Naoko said, grinning.

"You haven't seen what we're about to do." Sakura said, a little puzzled.

"Oh no, don't worry. Go on, Sasuke-kun!" Naoko responded. Sakura exchanged a doubtful glance with Sasuke before completing the correct sequence of hand seals, and then let the pink chakra petal shoot out of her palm. Naoko gave a squeak.

"Oh, it's pretty, Sakura-chan!" she giggled with enjoyment. Sakura's eyes seemed to go even blacker as she was referred to as Sakura-chan. The petal almost vanished, but she kept it out, and leapt at the black screen, swinging her arm with a _swish_. Her arm flashed and waved back and forth, and she jumped back to proudly view the mess of cuts on the screen. Then she blinked in surprise as the cuts began to seal up, leaving unbroken material behind. Sasuke gave an unvoluntary "tch" of surprise. Naoko began to laugh, a bubbly sound. _She's too hyper…too happy_. Sasuke thought, irritably. She reminded him of the old Sakura, except worse.

As the screen fully healed, Sasuke thrust his hand downwards towards the ground after his complex line of seals. The blazing blue ball of crackling electric chakra hissed and spit as he charged at the target, unaware of anyone else. His hand pounded into the screen and the Chidori actually blasted a hole through the cloth. He retreated and watched as it began to fix itself again.

Naoko was clapping with enthusiasm. "Sasuke-kun, that was brilliant!" She was actually jumping up and down behind the fence. "You're an amazing ninja, so strong!" Sasuke blinked in annoyance, but turned to give Naoko a small smile. Sakura was silent. She turned back to the screen and without a word to anyone, began hurling kunais at it at top speed, her face dark. Sasuke sensed something was wrong.

"Sakura?" he asked.

"Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate." Sakura snapped. Sasuke twitched at the venom in her voice but said nothing more. After two hours of various physical exercises, climbing trees, small practices of techniques and others, they stopped to catch some breath.

Naoko had stayed there the entire time, squealing with delight at Sasuke's every move. Sakura had remained with a black cloud hanging over her head. She would not talk to anyone.

"C'mon, it's time for lunch! Sakura-chan can come too!" she said.

_Can come **too**? _Sakura's black eyes were showing traces of red now.

"Naoko," Sasuke said, politely but firmly, "please avoid calling Sakura Sakura-chan, please?"

"Of course, Sasuke-kun! I'm sorry Sakura." She said, with a note of humbleness in her voice. Sakura stayed silent.

Then Sakura said, "You two can go without me. I'll train some more." Naoko took this without a single complaint of insisting Sakura coming. In fact, she seemed to be even happier.

"Oh, fine, Sakura. Come, Sasuke-kun!" she latched onto his arm, and he was dragged away with a confused look at Sakura.

Sakura sat down and crossed her legs. She pulled up her hood over her face, and sat there quietly and very still for ten minutes. She thought about Naoko, how pretty she was, how happy, how positive, and how she was getting Sasuke's attention. He had smiled at her.

Sasuke was getting quite uncomfortable at how close Naoko was to him. He tried to pull away but she would just start talking again and hang onto his arm. Most of what she said was endless gabbling about his skills, how he was part of the Uchiha clan, and the rest. Suddenly he asked to go back to the training grounds.

"Oh, I'm your guide, I guess I'll come too."

"No, Naoko-san. No. We are just in the training grounds, we do not need a guide. Come back at night and take us to our hotel. I will go back." He had no doubt that any command he gave her she would follow willingly. Naoko had a little pout on her face, but she tossed her hair, making sure it caught the sunlight, and agreed, running back to the main village. Sasuke turned back and when he arrived at the training grounds again, he found a hiding spot to watch Sakura. She was sitting on the floor, with her right middle and index finger pointing up at the air and the other three fingers of the right hand grasping the left hand's middle and index finger. It something Kakashi told them to do when they were collecting chakra, or just thinking. It had become a habit for Sakura.

Suddenly, Sakura got up, and walked towards the black screen. A mysterious angry wind rustled the bush Sasuke was looking through, and the trees all about the clearing. Sakura's fist swung out at the screen and a massive hole appeared. Her superstrength had surfaced. She began to pummel the screen, until only its frame remained. Then she waited as the corners of the screen began to thicken and re-make itself. The moment it finished, she started again with extensive combinations of kicks and punches and the sort. She stopped again a moment later, and she tossed her head to clear her face of wild hair. Sasuke caught a glimpse of dark red eyes. His breath caught. Sakura's eyes could change from black to the lightest green on normal days, and it turned pink during her Full Bloom. It could also contain streaks of other colors, but it _never_ changed the entire color. He stared at the back of her head. Sakura was fiercely angry.

Sakura's hand was at her side when the petal shot out of her hand in a vicious speed. She crouched, aiming the petal at the screen, and apparently in intense concentration. He jerked back as a _second_ petal crept out of her palm. If an invisible flower were really there and the two petals were part of the flower, then they would be on opposite sides. The pair of pink chakra petals reminded Sasuke of pincers. He stared again in disbelief as the long petals that pointed forward began to flatten out. Soon, both were horizontal, completely flat, like a continuation of her hand, except it was out to the side. She slammed her hand into the screen, and the chakra petals vanished into the black material.

Sakura smiled grimly at herself as she reflected on the versatility of her new technique. She could warp the petals any which way, the narrow and long petals twisting and turning any way she wanted. She felt the screen absorb the shock as her open palm rammed into it. The chakra petals sank through the screen, leaving no mark. They did not, however, reappear on the other side. The screen was two feet thick, it wasn't going to reach through.

_Perfect_. Sakura snarled in a contented but angry manner. The screen started to vibrate, a circle of pink showing glimmers through the front of the black material. A glow, you could call it. Her hand tingled and Sakura's head jerked forward in concentration at the feeling. She jerked her hand back with a strong tug and Sasuke's eyes widened again as a clean cut circle appeared in the middle of the screen, its edges buzzing with pink. It had not gone all the way through, though. Sakura had made the depth of the two petals small, although Sasuke believed she could have easily cut through the screen, but the circle would be smaller.

Sasuke watched as the two petals collapsed back into Sakura's hands.

"I know you're there, Sasuke." Sakura said in a flat monotone. Sasuke's eyes popped and he almost fell backwards. He didn't make a sound though. _How can she tell? I bet she's just bluffing it._ That's what he thought until a kunai's cold steel touched his neck. He froze, and slowly turned his head. Sakura was standing right behind him. She took away the kunai and his eyes went to the clearing. A log…

"What do you want." Sakura was still speaking in that awful expressionless voice. It was more of a demand than anything. Sasuke was getting annoyed.

"What do you mean, what do I want? I want to spend time with you, training or not."

"Naoko's waiting." Was all Sakura said, as she turned back along the path to return to the training clearing.

"Sakura!" Sasuke snarled. "What's wrong… tell me!"

Sakura's hair lashed the air as she turned violently, eyes a pitch black with streaks of a scary red. Her eyes narrowed and she said quietly, "You don't see it? After all those years at the Academy?"

Sasuke took a step back from Sakura's menacing attitude. "W-what are you talking about?" he said, in disbelief.

"Nakamura. Naoko." Sakura hissed. Sasuke understood suddenly.

"Hey, Flower, don't, okay? Please. I don't have anything for her."

"But she has something for you! Do you see her! She flirts and tries to get your attention every second! When she refers to me its in the form of 'oh, Sakura can come too'. She's trying to replace me! Don't call me Flower!"

Sasuke stood there, stunned, for a second. Then he closed his eyes and sighed. He didn't know how to deal with this. The normal Sasuke would let his anger boil over. But he didn't want to make things worse.

"Sakura," he said quietly, "I spend my time with you, I hug you, kiss you, laugh with you. It's not because you're just a friend, because you're more. I am not the type of guy to uncover my feelings for the first time, for any time, to drop my feelings for you for another girl. No girl can do that to me." He watched Sakura's eyes without saying anything more, and saw a falter in the jet black eyes.

As Sasuke finished speaking, Sakura's heart skipped a beat and her anger melted. Or, it was trying to melt. Sakura remembered Sasuke's smile to Naoko, everything Naoko did for Sasuke, how _pretty_ she was. _No_, she told herself_¸ don't let it down, don't let your guard down._ Sasuke flinched as Sakura suddenly ran past him towards Light.

That night, Sakura slept on the couch as Sasuke tossed and turned in the bed alone.


	11. Yet More Surprises

D/C: Don't own Naruto!

Ahahah, sorry… I was wandering around the site and I was like Oo dang where's the anonymous review thing!

Village symbol is supposed to be like… rays of sun..ish… an underscore, a slash, vertical line, slash and an underscore..i guess it didn't turn out right

Chap 11! Sorry I haven't been working on the story lately, but another long one comin up

Surprises

The next two days were highly depressing for Sasuke. On the outside, he kept the hard straight face he had mastered in the earliest years of his life. However, on the inside, his mind and heart roiled with troubles and wishes. Sakura had ceased talking to him. Even worse, Naoko continued to harangue him. He found time to get away from Sakura's stony silence and wandered around Light searching for little jobs some people needed doing. He would weed someone's garden and sure enough, Naoko would be there to lean on the fence as she continued a one-sided conversation with Sasuke's silence. He would go to the training grounds to think and contemplate on Sakura's anger, his confusion, his anger at both Sakura and Naoko for their misunderstanding. He would go there for peace and quiet, or he would train, so he could take his mind off of his problems, but Naoko was always shadowing him, following him everywhere. On the third day, around mid afternoon (they were leaving the fourth morning), Sasuke's reserve broke its dam. He was in the training clearing.

"Leave me alone, Naoko-san." He said, quietly.

Naoko giggled. "Nah Sasuke-kun, didn't I say to just call me Naoko? We're friends, aren't we?"

Sasuke's teeth clenched. "I must say we aren't." he replied.

"Now, now, Sasuke-kun," Naoko crooned, "We're over that now, aren't we? Sakura-chan's gone, we have all the time in the world! Too bad you leave tomorrow morning!"

Sasuke's eyes involuntarily lapsed into Sharingan in his anger. "I feel nothing for you, Naoko-san, if you haven't noticed it. I haven't been able to measure your ignorance, it deepens everytime I try to."

The slender girl's smile froze, and faded. "What?" she whispered.

"Actually, I do feel something for you. I am angry at you, Naoko-san. I wish you would leave me alone, let me be, find someone else to torture. You will _never_ in my hearing, insult Sakura. Never. Don't you dare call her Sakura-chan because she's greater than you will ever be. It disgusts me to see how you've manipulated me and her so that you can get rid of her. I disgust myself for letting you do it. You're a beast. Leave me be." But it was he, who stood up, straight and tall, and left without a word. He felt Naoko's burning eyes on his back. Burning with tears, embarrassment, disappointment, and something else he couldn't pin down.

Sakura felt destroyed, in her heart. Her eyes remained black and unreadable 24/7 and she maintained a silence that was broken only to respond to necessary questions, in terse and short responses. Everyone had noticed the space between Sakura and Sasuke. Tsunade, who only came back late at night from negotiations and friendly talks with the Kage, noticed it. Yuzuru-kun seemed to look at the two of them, far apart and separated, with a queer expression in his eyes. When Sakura noticed this and tried to return his glance, he would smoothly look somewhere else, or tip his head forward so his long hair cast shadows upon his handsome face. Kirari-san noticed it too, and once she took Sakura under her arm when the two of them were alone. Her ponytail swung to one side as she cocked her head and looked at Sakura's face. Black as her eyes were, hard as her face was, Kirari seemed to understand her every feeling. But she didn't say anything. She could tell that Sakura didn't want to speak to anyone about anything. She let Sakura go.

She wrestled with herself the second and third day, constantly. Part of her argued that Sasuke would never leave her for another girl they had just barely met. They were happy together. But the other half would bring up Naoko's attractive image, and her cute personality. Part of her wanted to forgive Sasuke, to hold him, kiss him, whisper her apologies in his ear, but the other half roared at her mind, screaming at her to wake up. She didn't know what she was doing. How could she punish him for Naoko's behavior? It was unreasonable. But the stubborn, recently surfaced part of her mind refused to give in.

She had been in the hotel room, sitting on the bed and immersed in her own clashing thoughts when the door flew open with a swift swooshing sound. Sasuke stomped in, his eyes narrow. Sakura swore she could hear a hissing sound coming from his head. But then he stopped short and saw Sakura. He blinked, then took a breath and opened his mouth. Sakura recognized the beginning of a rant, something Sasuke rarely did in public but poured out his every thought to Sakura. It was a Sasuke no one but her knew about. Her ears opened automatically, no matter what her mind said. But then Sasuke remembered himself suddenly and his mouth closed.

"Sorry." He said, shortly, and pulled back out of the room. He probably was going to Yuzuru-kun and Kirari-san's room. He had become to trust Yuzuru-kun greatly, and it was his refuge when Sakura was in the room he shared with her.

The fourth morning, all five packed up. The Kage and an honorary group of Light ninja gathered at the gate to see the five off. The Kage and Tsunade exchanged handshakes for one last time, and a friendly hug. Kirari-san, Yuzuru-kun, Sasuke and Sakura stood with straight backs behind Tsunade, their backs to the open Gate. Sakura's eyes flickered as she spotted _Naoko_ in the select few ninja with the honor to represent Light and their Kage. She glanced subtly at Sasuke and saw his eyes narrow as he too, saw the girl dressed in light yellow. He must have gotten mad at her. A painful twinge tugged at her heart, but she recoiled from it and pulled her mind away.

They walked away from the village in the early morning light, traveling as usual in their box form. Sakura wasn't sure if she minded having Tsunade between her and Sasuke.

Yuzuru gave a noisy yawn. "Nyah. We won't make any stops on the way back, so it'll be faster, right, Tsunade-san?" Yuzuru had refused to call Tsunade just 'Tsunade' without anything at the end at all, so he settled with a casual one, although it was visible that he still didn't like it.

"Hai." Tsunade said, a cheerful smile on her face as she took in the sunlight and the pretty greenery they walked by. Kirari's dark green hair could be heard swishing behind them, and Sakura looked back and saw the graceful woman's unusual eye color shielded from sight by her eyelids as she closed her eyes in the lovely weather. Everyone was enjoying the morning, but Sasuke and Sakura both still remembered their troubles, which were jostling at each other in the corner of their minds.

As the day progressed and noon came, they stopped for a quick lunch, simply a few bites of a sustaining trail mix kind of food. Finishing up what little food they ate, they leapt back into the trees and continued their long way back.

A few days of their journey had passed, two to be exact and they were nearing the edge of Day. Sakura was looking forward to a real bath or shower, real food, and a real bed. To her dismay, Sasuke and Sakura were still not talking. Well, they exchanged comments when it was needed, like "Sakura, can you fetch some river water for the kettle?" or "Sasuke, your sandal's loose." She had hoped that he would try to talk to her, or apologize, but he had done neither. In fact, he seemed to have reverted to how he acted in the Academy. Or, more like, he just acted how he normally did to everyone, Sakura just wasn't used to it. It looked like Sasuke seriously didn't care anymore. _That's impossible. He loves me_. She thought. But then she remembered how neither of them had ever said it out loud. It didn't mean anything though, she reminded herself. She would talk to him after the trip was over. The problem was, how much longer could she last without Sasuke right next to her…?

True, Sasuke was flat and expressionless on his face, but again, again again again, he was restless underneath. He thought it'd be better for Sakura to finish up steaming over Naoko's flirting and whatnot, and then he'd explain. Four days starting when they had been in Light without talking to Sakura. It was like hell. He needed to talk to someone he trusted, and so far in his life, the only one alive was Sakura. The Sasuke everyone in Konoha knew kept to himself, was sarcastic and smart, and he did fine alone. They thought he was an individual. It was false. At night, Sasuke kept his word to remain strong, and did not cry, but he trembled constantly in bed as his mind cried out to pour out their troubles and words to someone he could trust. His thoughts and opinions needed to be expression just as much as his love for Sakura and devotion needed to be passionate to him.

The wind was blowing strong and a massive dark gray cloud moved over to cover the sky. It wouldn't rain, Sakura didn't feel it in the air. They were far from the path that most citizens and people used to travel between the countries, and were deep in the forests of Day. They stopped on a gigantic tree branch to catch a breath and a drink of water. They were standing in a circle, and Kirari-san had her hands on her hips as she looked around. Her Byakugan sensed nothing. She reached down for her water bottle and took a drink. Suddenly, Yuzuru-kun's eyes widened in a flash and he tackled Kirari, knocking her to the floor under him. A kunai flashed in the darkness under the massive trees right to the point where Kirari's chest had been a second before. A chunk of dark green hair was sliced away from Kirari's ponytail as her head went down. An ambush!

The two adults quickly got to their feet and the four ninja surrounded Tsunade. Each ninja was tensed and ready to spring. Tsunade's eyes sought movement in the undergrowth and foliage of the forest. Sakura's eyes were pink and her hand glowed with a ready Full Bloom. Sasuke's eyes had turned red with the Sharingan. Kirari's peach colored eyes had the bold outlines of veins behind them, the power of her Chakra sending her hair waving in a windless day. Yuzuru was crouched, a kunai and four shurikens in his hands.

To the intense surprise of the five Konoha ninjas, a blackness seemed to spread out from the shadows of the forest. It began to consume everything they saw.

"GENJUTSU!" Yuzuru roared, his hands going up to his face as he prepared to cancel the genjutsu. The other four followed suit.

"It isn't canceling for me!" Sakura cried out.

"Me neither." Sasuke said, panic beginning to show in his voice. It was a higher genjutsu than he was sure on how to stop.

A flash of peach light and Kirari-san thrust out a glowing hand into the darkness, and the blackness immediately disappeared. The back of Kirari's hand was against the back of a shrouded ninja's neck, and it suddenly slumped to the floor. The ninja looked to be a man, and was clothed in all black. Tsunade spotted a piece of metal, and knelt down. A black circle was engraved onto the ninja headband.

"The Hidden Dark!" she said, a note of surprise in a rushed breath.

"There's more, Tsunade. Get up." Kirari said, her voice hard.

Evidently, the unseen ninja preferred close combat, as a black-clothed ninja appeared in front of Sakura and slashed out at her head. She bent backwards, her back flexing and the ninja's attack went clear over her head. Her neck came back into place as she dodged the attack and she brought the diamond-sharp chakra petal up and through the ninja's chest. A gagging sound, but he persevered, using dragging fingers to try and form a seal. Sasuke appeared and kicked the man sideways over the edge of the branch and sent kunais thudding into the dying man.

"Sasuke!" Sakura stammered, "Don't leave Tsunade unprotected!"

"The Hokage can protect herself." He said. "Move it! They're going to kill us if we don't beat them to it." Sakura nodded and twisted around, sending out a second chakra petal. She had not managed to conjure up more than two petals at one time. Her Chakra had expanded greatly, but she tired easily if she tried to push herself overboard. Sasuke had leapt to help Yuzuru, who was fighting off three ninja. Where had all these come from! Kirari hadn't sensed them! Sakura found herself face to face with two ninja. She jerked back, but then her eyes blazed a deep pink and her two petals flattened out to a long, narrow, flat, two-sided spear.

She gripped her right wrist with her left hand, and jabbed to the left, then the right, straight into the chests of the two men. One grunted and gripped her arm painfully and cut at her arm with a kunai. She winced, but gritted her teeth and swung her body low, pulling her leg around and tripping the two of them. However, they leaped away into the branches of the trees above. She thought she heard the hum of healing, but was distracted by yet another black-clad ninja being flung right past her nose as Tsunade dealt out another blow.

Sasuke kicked at a black form at Yuzuru's back, and felt his foot connect. Immediately he had to block an incoming kunai and suddenly he found himself in one of the typical duels between ninja, simply leaping off walls, or any surface the feet could find while dodging, throwing, and/or clashing kunais with the opponent. They were getting too far from the group… Sasuke jumped away from the other man and leapt back to the battle-branch, hearing the man curse and jump after him.

Kirari didn't think they could continue much longer. Tsunade, perhaps, but the rest of them could not. She could see Sasuke and Sakura begin to flag in strength. The battle was taking much too long. But as soon as the attack had begun, it suddenly stopped. She whirled around in a full circle, vainly trying to find an opponent that had been all too easy two seconds before. The five stood in silence, though with heaving chests.

"Where'd they go?" Sakura demanded. A tree branch rustled high above and all five of them slowly raised their head. Tsunade cursed. Loud.

The branches above them were filled with black-clad ninja. Every branch that could be seen seemed to hold a ninja from the Hidden Dark.

"This isn't good." Yuzuru whispered.

"That's not all." Sasuke said, slowly. He was looking straight in front of them. The other four quickly followed suit. There was a black mass moving on the wide broad branch fifty feet from where they stood. As they cleared themselves of the shadows, figures could be seen. Sakura's stomach felt funny. There was something both familiar but wrong here. She edged closer to Sasuke, troubles forgotten.

"There's something wrong." She muttered. "Do you feel it?" Sasuke nodded silently. Suddenly, one person detached itself from the main mass, and walked out into the light. Sakura's eyes widened, and Sasuke gave a "tchk" of disbelief and shock.

A tall, slender, young lady of seventeen stood dressed almost entirely in yellow. The forehead protector that was tied around her upper leg close above her knee had changed from the rays of the sun to a black engraved circle.

Nakamura Naoko.


	12. Fury

D/C: Naruto doesn't belong to me or most likely any of you x)

Fury

Naoko tossed her hair in the light with a light "hmf."

"I've seen that girl somewhere…" Kirari said slowly.

"Hidden Light." Yuzuru snarled. "She's a traitor."

"Perhaps I was never part of Hidden Light, but I just happened to live there?" Naoko sneered.

"You're disgusting, and in more than one way now." Sakura's eyes were slits.

"Don't get jealous, now. Sasuke already sealed everyone's fate!" Naoko laughed. "I'm prominent enough in Hidden Dark to be able to get whatever I want. The Hidden Dark was already planning your downfall, you know. I was planning to only take you guys as prisoners at first, but then Sasuke had to humiliate me and reject me. So now I'll just kill you all. Then the Dark's plans can continue. Hmm…maybe I should keep Uchiha-kun as a pet, eh?"

The three adults looked at Sasuke, but he didn't notice. He was busy getting mad.

"That's ridiculous! How could I leave Sakura for someone like you, the kind of person who judges consequences by if a boy likes her or not! That's an impossible situation!" He said in his quiet but angry way.

"Hey," Naoko winked playfully, "I'm that kind of girl."

A swishing noise.

"Ah!" Yuzuru gasped and then let out his breath in a long hiss. Tsunade jerked. Kirari clapped her hand to her arm, while Sasuke and Sakura both cried out "ouch!"

Each one of the five Konoha ninjas had a bamboo needle sticking out of their leg or arm somewhere.

"Drugs!" Kirari cried out, vainly trying to pull out the needle.

"You bastard." Sakura snarled, her hand finding Sasuke's.

"I'd prefer bitch." Naoko returned with a smile. Then, as if to add to the pile, the genjutsu was again performed upon the group, and before anyone could get out of it, swift hands had hit some nerves and knocked them out.

As the Hokage, the tall man and woman, and the two teenagers fell to the ground, Naoko gave a giggle. This was so fun.

"Separate them. Keep the three adults in a containment cell. The two younger ones will determine what happens. It'll be fun for me."

Tsunade woke up suddenly, her teeth gritting and her eyes narrowing, ready for battle. She had only been out for a couple of minutes. But nothing came. She looked around; it wasn't dark but it was dim. Kirari and Yuzuru were next to her. They were in… a dome? Yes. It was a dome, a dark grey dome. She could see outside! They were on the ground now, deep in shadow, but in the middle of the clearing that the dome was on the edge of, there was a single pool of golden light that illuminated most of the clearing. Tsunade stood up, it was a big dome, and with searching eyes she analyzed their cage. There were Dark ninjas with their hands on the dome. They were the cagekeepers. None were looking at her. She inspected the wall, and prodded at it. It was rock hard.

Behind her, Kirari stirred, then got up. Tsunade heard her wake Yuzuru. A moment later, both came up next to her. Yuzuru looked furious, Kirari worried.

"Where are the two little ones?" Kirari said.

"We have to get out! Sasuke and Sakura are out there! If we're all taken prisoner, the Hidden Dark is gonna do something bad. Probably send false messages to the other countries and start a giant war. How crazy. They're probably pissed off at Day for favoring Light." Yuzuru shouted. "Have you tried breaking this thing yet?"

"Do you really think this is going to be broken so easily? The Dark is relatively new, but they're not relatively stupid. But no, I haven't. Step back." Tsunade snapped. With ease, she let her super strength flow through her body. Then, in rapid succession, she kicked, punched, and tried to smash the cage's walls. They didn't change at all. A giggle from behind them, and they turned around to see Naoko looking at them from outside.

"Having a hard time?" she asked. Kirari left the three and sat down crosslegged with her back to Naoko. "Now, now, Kirari-san, don't get mad. Please?" Naoko pleaded, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Anyways," she continued, "Hokage-sama, don't injure yourself in trying to break it down, because it won't break. I want to have the pleasure of killing you later, so don't overwork yourself. But first, I have to kill Sasuke-san and Sakura-chan, don't I?" She vanished before Tsunade could reply. Then a strangled cry came from one of the cage keepers. Tsunade whipped around to see the half of the dome where Kirari was sitting doused in a bright blue light, a glow. It ended where a dying man was lying beside the dome. But quickly, another Dark ninja appeared to take it's place, and suddenly Kirari was thrown backwards as the ninja performed some kind of electrocution that was used through the dome. Yuzuru quickly knelt and grunted as he caught Kirari. Her hands still had a blue glow. She had used Jyuuken, and had used the dome as a medium to reach one of the cage keepers.

The replacement turned to the three and said, "The bitch stays in the middle of the dome, away from the walls. Actually, all three of you, keep back."

Yuzuru twitched, then turned to roar at the man, "DON'T YOU DARE CALL HER A BITCH!" The ninja gave a grim smile and simply turned around.

Sasuke's vision swam.

"Wake up, Sasuke-kun, I'm tired of waiting." Came a high, smooth voice. He jerked himself upright and jumped to his feet. He nudged Sakura with his foot, not taking his eyes off of Naoko. She too, stood up, her eyes black with anger.

"Where's Tsunade-sama! Yuzuru-kun! Kirari-san!" she screamed at Naoko. Then she saw the great gray cage and saw the three adults' pale faces. She screamed again.

Naoko ignored her. "Congratulations, you two get to represent whether you die or just get taken prisoner. Actually, I forgot that I changed my mind. You die either way; it's convenient for the Dark, anyways. Now hurry up and at least try to defend yourself. Me against the two of you." Naoko said, and she vanished. Sakura cursed, she was still feeling sluggish.

However, Sasuke had recovered. "Behind us!" he cried out, and with blazing red eyes he flung himself against Sakura, knocking both of them to the floor as a black disc collided and exploded with the ground behind them. Naoko landed lightly behind them, and Sasuke was sent sprawling as she swung her leg at his unprotected back. Sakura rolled away from the kunais that pierced the ground as Sasuke was ripped away, and jumped back up, producing a kunai to clash with Naoko's. Naoko threw him off and Sasuke skidded back. Then he recovered and both he and Sakura flung several knuckles of shurikens at her, sending some straight, some spinning and some everywhere. Naoko dodged them all with skillful ease, her face twisted in a constant smirk of superiority.

Blackness suddenly engulfed Sasuke's vision. It was a strong genjutsu, his Sharingan told him. Blind, he froze. He was vulnerable but if he moved, would things get any better? Suddenly a blow hit him. He knew it was fake, it was all in his mind, but oh how it hurt! Then another, and another.

Sakura saw Sasuke suddenly stop moving, a look of bewildered anger on his face, then a look of pain. Naoko. Sakura sprang at the girl, her battle-black eyes turning pink as a petal shot out of her palm. She swung her arm with the petal at Naoko, but she merely stepped aside. Naoko had already seen their specialty moves! Sakura cursed.

_Fireball Hand!_ She hissed to herself, as her quick hands formed the seals, the petal collapsing back into her palm as she did. This was a little favorite of hers, it was a tricky one but she had persuaded Kakashi to teach the three of them the jutsu. A tiny spark appeared out of nowhere above her left palm, and as she lowered her hands, the petal again popped out of her right palm. The spark grew into a tiny flame, which then quickly grew to a flame with a dark ball of red in the middle, seeming to be the fireball's fuel source.

She shouted into Sasuke's ear, hoping he could hear through the genjutsu, "CHIDORI!" and then launched herself at Naoko again, flame and flower petal in her hands. She could feel her energy begin to leak, the two jutsus were taking their toll. But then she grimaced and she reached Naoko. Immediately, she sliced her hands out in an X- style, and startled by the fire, Naoko jumped back, losing her concentration.

Sasuke was still being continually beaten by invisible hands in the surrounding darkness. He winced. Suddenly, out of the blackness, Sakura's voice strained through, "Chidori." It seemed to say. Sasuke flinched again as a punch hit his shoulder, but began the process to developing that ball of blue electricity, pouring all his mind into that hand and the crackling sound of Chidori. Just as he finished it, the blackness vanished, darkness shrinking back to the clearing's shadows. He saw Sakura with a blur of pink and red in her hands, landing on the other side of the vast clearing as Naoko jumped back, a look of surprise and annoyance on her face. He didn't see anymore, he only saw Naoko, his target. His eyes were narrow and he jumped into the air, plunging his hand down towards her heart. Her face was illuminated by the blue light, and fear, but also a disgusting pride. His hand met her skin, and the Chidori vanished into her, spreading its fearful energy all over her body. She twitched, and then fell to the ground. Nakamura Naoko was dead. He straightened, his eyes returning to its solid deep black, and he heard Sakura come up next to him, then leaning her head on his shoulder. She wasn't dead tired, but she wasn't feeling exactly fresh either. Then she jerked back with a start, as the body of Naoko disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"No!" Sasuke hissed, but then blackness consumed his vision as his mind went blank and he fell to the ground. Sakura screamed and whipped around.

"Naoko!" she shrieked. "What the hell have you done?"

"Calm down, Flower, don't make me pluck off all your petals before I have to." Naoko smirked again. "He's not dead or anything, but he's out cold for a while. I just wanted to fight you alone because you stole his heart, can't you imagine a poor heart-broken girl like me suffering from that?"

Sakura bristled, "You're horrible. How _dare_ you. Sasuke would never love a person like you, if I were there or not." She smiled grimly as Naoko's face twisted indignantly.

"You'd better be in for the beating of your life." Naoko whispered, her eyes a narrow threat. Then she was gone. Sakura's eyes immediately darted to the left, then the right. She could be anywhere. The chakra petal blazed from her sweaty palm, an angry pink.

_There!_ Sakura heard a swish and her arm swung around. It was rewarded by a muffled gasp of pain as it left a small cut in Naoko's arm. She landed heavily and charged at Sakura, her fingers full of shurikens. Sakura dropped low, preparing to swing her leg back and then forward to trip Naoko when pain erupted in her leg. She looked back. The Naoko in front of her gave a puff of white smoke and vanished.

"Too stupid." Naoko chirped, dripping with malice. Sakura's pink eyes flickered and she made a sound, then twisted and jabbed her Full Bloom at Naoko's shoulder, piercing it.

"Ah!" Naoko cried out, her pain digging the kunai even deeper into Sakura's leg before she leapt away.

The hit-and-run attacks continued, Sakura managing to strike back or dodge Naoko almost every time Naoko attacked. The times she didn't though, were taking their toll on her body. The fiercely skilled Sakura was still no match for the older and stronger Naoko. She was a prodigy, for sure. Would Sasuke have been able to beat her? Then she realized her mistake. She was standing still, an open target.

_Move yourself!_ Sakura snarled, and she too, vanished from the clearing. _Concentrate_, she told herself, and pulled out a second petal while hiding in the green foliage of a tree. The two petals flattened, a deadly two-point spear in her hands.

Naoko was back in the clearing. "Ahh, little Flower, you're not old enough to be a proper ninja. You've forgotten your task." She was standing over Sasuke's still body. Sakura's eyes widened. She had forgotten Sasuke! She hurriedly composed herself, and called out, constantly changing positions around the arena to hide her location.

"Nah, Naoko-san, you understand it wrong yourself. Sasuke isn't my task. My task is to serve Konoha, and therefore the Hokage. Sasuke is my friend, and ninja must place their duties before the others." Sakura said, dripping with poisonous disdain. It didn't work on the crafty Dark girl.

"Don't lie, Sakura. You're not near old enough to even get a hint of being able to do that. Sasuke's still more valuable to you, no matter what you say to yourself." Naoko grinned, her head cocked. Then, to Sakura's horror, Naoko's hand reached into her holster and pulled out a lethal sharp kunai. With an air of carelessness, she held it out at arm's length and dropped it. Her arm was over Sasuke.

"NO!" Sakura screamed and leapt through the greenery that hid her, straight at Naoko, only to have two replicas catch her fast at the wrists and ankles. "NO!" again.

The kunai sliced Sasuke's shoulder, a narrow cut, and he twitched, but didn't wake up. Then, Naoko, with a cruel smile on her face as she looked at Sakura provokingly, dropped yet another. This time, it cut his leg. Then another to his arm, then one to his side, then another, and another and another. Soon, Sasuke's outline was dotted with kunais that hadn't stabbed him but had sliced the side of his skin. It made Sakura sick. The hair on the back of her head was standing on end, and she was crying with fury and anger.

Her eyes turned soft pink. It wasn't hot pink, it never turned hot pink. It was always a faded soft pink. But, this one was an angry pink, somehow. They burned. With unreleased fury.

_Kill Naoko_. Was her only thought.


	13. The Sakura Flower’s Full Bloom

wD/C: I don't own Naruto or anything related to it other than this little story that was based off of something that is again..not mine

The Sakura Flower's Full Bloom

_Kill Naoko. For what she's done, to Tsunade-san, Kirari-san, Yuzuru-kun. For what she's done to me. For what she's done to Sasuke._ Sakura's eyes narrowed and her long ponytail began to lift itself in an eerie pink glow. Wind whipped the earth around her, and Naoko's doppelgangers looked about uncertainly. Her right palm glowed. _Whsh_. Two petals shot out so fast the eye could barely follow. The replica holding her wrists vanished. She twisted and two petals came out of her left palm. She slammed both hands into the one holding her legs. Gone with the wind.

Naoko was watching. "Angered now? Took you long enough." She called. "Now get down here and fight me for Sasuke before I turn old and gray." Sakura didn't say anything. She was above Naoko's stupid little teases now. With a feral roar she threw herself at Naoko, her two arms flying out behind her, dragging their pink bolts of lightning along. She was too fast for Naoko, much too fast. Or so she believed.

As she met Naoko and brought her hands up to stab at that disgusting face, that beautiful and horrifying face, and to cut her heart open in Sakura's violent vehement flood of fury, a flash of yellow met her pink. As her eyes adjusted to the blinding light, she found herself staring into Naoko's cold eyes. The enemy kunoichi's arm was brought up and blocked her X-shaped cross of Full Bloom Petals. The reason why her arm was not lacerated with sizzling cuts was apparent. A violently shimmering yellow network of thick twisting wraithlike strands of chakra formed a mesh that closely followed her entire arm's outline. It fought back at Sakura's Full Bloom.

They struggled back and forth for a few moments until Sakura screamed with rage again and leapt back to slash forth again. It was futile. Naoko's surprise technique was effective as Sasuke's Chidori, Naruto's Rasengan, and Sakura's Full Bloom.

Leaping back again, Sakura skidded to a halt, panting for breath from her single minded wrath. The left hand pair of petals collapsed into her palm as she strengthened her right hand. A third petal slowly but steadily extended. From their previously flat and spread out position, she raised them so it looked like a half complete flower, its narrow neck letting out into the broad petals at the end.

Then she spoke her first truly understandable words for the first time since her energy and ferocity had surfaced. "You evil, traitorous, foul beast. You're going to die for this. I won't prolong it, for your own good, I'm not that sadistic. I'll kill you quick and fast, to get you out of my sight as soon as possible."

"Look at you, you're out of breath already. I'm feeling just dandy. I'd like to see you try." Naoko responded.

"I'm just out of breath because my heart and mind want to kill you soooo bad." Sakura hissed, as she raced at Naoko, low to the ground. She saw her tense, readying herself to dodge. Sakura changed course, quickly, to try and throw Naoko off. She reached her. Naoko jumped away.

"You left Sasuke." Sakura said, coldly, skidding to a halt again. "How do you know I won't grab Sasuke and run?"

"Because, stupid, I still have your Hokage and the two ninja over there. Plus I'd send ninja after you faster than you can say 'run'." Was the reply. Sakura cursed at herself inside for being so stupid. She didn't talk anymore as she looked down at Sasuke's limp body and saw the dripping cuts on him. Her anger flared again. She jumped at Naoko, her chakra Flower blazing. But this time, as she came even with Naoko, her left hand brought out a knuckle (my little term for when they have four shurikens between their fingers) of shuriken and four kunais. She threw them as hard as she could, then slashed out with her right. A sizzling sound burned in her ears as she again, looked Naoko full in the face. Her eight knives lay at Naoko's feet where she had blocked it with a second arm. She now had both arms fully blazing and she had crossed them against Sakura's three-petal flower.

Naoko saw Sakura grin for a split second, then saw her left arm move. Naoko's brow creased sharply as she realized what Sakura was going to do. Naoko could either block the upcoming attack from Sakura's left arm with her arm, but then risk Sakura using her right arm to get past Naoko's guard and attack her.

She would take the risk. She pulled her right arm out of the X to block Sakura's right. Then she realized Sakura's intention. The left arm feinted then seized her right forearm to steady it. _Crap!_ Naoko thought, as Sakura's hair bristled with energy. A fourth petal shot out, extending longer than the rest at Naoko's unprotected face. Naoko brought her right arm back just in time to fight back the petal as it only sheared off a lock of hair.

"My my, a Flower with fangs." Naoko sneered again, but Sakura could hear her quick breath. She was bluffing to make herself feel better, Sakura could see that easily. But Naoko was not to be so easily defeated. A blinding flash of light erupted in front of Sakura as Naoko used some kind of explosive. Through the blazing bright yellow light and smoke, kunais came whistling through the air. Sakura screamed with pain as they cut and stabbed into her unprotected body, her arms covering her ducked head. She tried to jump away but only succeeded in exposing herself, unable to protect herself as Naoko darted underneath her and planted a foot in her back, throwing her even higher. Sakura's back arched backwards painfully under the kick and she cried out, as she tasted the metallic flavor of blood that she coughed up.

She landed hard on the packed dirt ground and felt the wind go out of her and she was frozen on the ground momentarily. Naoko's face appeared over hers and a split second later a searing pain erupted from her side. Sakura screamed and writhed about. Naoko straightened up from her bent position and removed her crackling electricity-covered arm from Sakura's side, where the raw skin and frayed clothes sizzled.

"Did you feel that?" Naoko whispered. It was a rhetorical question, really. "That's what I'll do to Sasuke, now. I'm a little bored. When I get bored I get brutal, eh, Sasuke-chan?" she cooed, as she strode towards him.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!" Sakura shrieked, scrambling and struggling to get up. As she stood to face Naoko, a painful jolt ran through her from her oozing burn. Naoko snorted, she knew the pink-haired girl was in no shape to even try walking. Naoko had no problem admitting she was a sadistic little girl. Turning again, she summoned her Dark Sunlight to cover her slender arm and reached out to touch her forearm to Sasuke's leg.

Sakura watched in horror as Naoko bent over Sasuke. "NO! PLEASE NO!" she shouted, desperately. Then she sank to her knees in helplessness as the unconscious Sasuke yelled in pain, screaming and flailing to get out of his blacked-out state. He couldn't wake up. What on earth had Naoko done to him! When she had finished with her tortue, Sasuke's legs were raw and bloody, crackling and twitching with electricity. Sakura felt a flood of the old anger, that anger that had thrown herself against Naoko. It overwhelmed her. Her teeth on edge, Sakura struggled to her feet, swaying uncertainly, then holding her ground.

Naoko saw her. "Don't hurt yourself." She said, her voice cold. "You can still run, leave the four behind. Save yourself. Why not? I'll let you go." Sakura saw she really meant it. For some warped reason, she really meant it. It only made her angrier.

Between clenched jaws, she barely growled out. "I don't need your pity. I… don't want… your FOUL SUGGESTIONS… FOR DESERTING… MY FRIENDS!" she roared out, her right arm snapping out to a 90 degree angle to her body. A chakra petal flared from out of her palm. Then two. Three. Four… Then… _a fifth_. The flower was complete. Sakura's first time ever. Before today she had only been able to get two petals out, and the broad tip of at third would peek out, but refuse to extend. She felt a strange shudder of refreshing energy, and realized that it felt like her Chakra was restored, and stronger than ever before. It was a new feeling for her. But this wasn't a training session, to test her Full Bloom. An enemy stood before her. One single pink petal flew out of her left hand, then began to rotate, faster, faster, faster. Sakura then stood with a full Full Bloom and a spinning petal that she hoped would work as a shield. It would, she told herself, it will.

Sakura could tell Naoko was more than a little thrown off. But she wasn't wasting her time on words. She threw herself at Naoko, striking out with her angrily blazing Chakra. A crackling sound became audible as Naoko's arms glowed with electric Chakra and her hand flashed out. Sakura brought up her shield and felt a surge of confidence as it deflected Naoko's attack.

The two kunoichis flew back and forth in the clearing, leaping and slashing, trying to kill the other. It was past the point of capture, of peaceful surrender. This called for killing, bloodshed.

Finally, when Sakura was beginning to feel at her limits, she struck home. Her lethally Chakra-enhanced Full Bloom Flower plunged into Naoko's stomach. Naoko was knocked off her feet, with a cry of pain. Sakura's eyes widened at the blood that gushed out of Naoko's mouth, and her wound, as Sakura pulled back her blazing flower and stumbled back in shock, her spinning left hand shield drifting to a hanging stop and vanishing. But immediately, two shadows materialized next to Naoko as she hit the ground with a hard _thump_. The two Dark ninja lifted her up, and a third sprang between Sakura and Naoko with her two guards to keep Sakura from attacking.

Naoko wasn't finished. Weakly, and with the last of her energy, she spat out from between bloody lips. "This isn't over. We'll finish it up, when you aren't expecting it. Your damned Hokage, Konoha, and Sasuke. I'll have you all."

Suddenly, the clearing was empty. There were no ninja to speak of, no shinobi. They had gone. Sakura looked about, and blinked. Then, pain shot through her from head to toe. She had used too much of her Chakra with the Full Bloom. Blood again. The pain came in waves, ever and ever more. Her pink flower's vibrant color faded, and it wilted until it seemed to drip and vanish off her hand. Weakly, she remembered her duty to Konoha and therefore the Hokage. But it was to Sasuke that she struggled over to, finally collapsing to her knees next to him. He was stirring now, the effects of Naoko's genjutsu wearing off.

She felt tears come to her eyes at how close the five of them had come to dying. How Sasuke almost died right next to Sakura, how she couldn't defend him. But in the end, she had. The tears flowed from her eyes and sobs ripped themselves from her throat. She caught Sasuke up in her arms as she had so many times before when he had almost killed himself, crying uncontrollably.

"S-sakura… you're heavy." A murmured unclear voice said, close to her ear.

"Sasuke!" she sobbed. "Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke." Then the pain returned. Sakura was going to die…she could feel it, in the pain, in her body. At least she had saved Sasuke. At least she had had the opportunity to love him, kiss him, hold him, to spend time with him. She would die for him, and for Konoha, as a ninja.

"I love you." She whispered into his ear, faintly. There, it was out, the statement neither had been able to make before that moment. Then, the pain overwhelmed her, and she collapsed to the floor beside him.


	14. Recovery

Hey guys… yes, I have finally decided to update. Thing is, I forgot about the story for quite a while. I'm quite relieved that they didn't delete my story. I'm sorry for the wait, for those of you who did…if any…

I'm just warming up, so this will be a short chapter.

-chapter 14 : Recovery-

_Nhhhhhh……._

"will they be al…"

Pain was the first thing she knew when Sakura came to.

_Nine-tails… I hurt all over…_

"Not sur-…the boy… wake…"

"Yo... mean… Uch… suke?"

She bolted upright in bed at the fuzzy sounds of Sasuke's name in her head … and fell back down, with a loud "aAAh… gh." She was in an obsessively clean hospital room. Kakashi was sitting by her side and a doctor was standing next to him.

"Sakura." Kakashi said, smiling. "Welcome back."

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei." She replied respectfully, then asked quickly. "Where's Sasuke?"

"Right here." A door to her room that was in the same wall her bed was against opened. At the sound of that voice she had thought she would never hear again, she tried to get up and turn around to look. But a gentle hand touched her shoulder; Sasuke was already by her side. He had a bandage on one cheek and he had a crutch for his burned leg, but it was Sasuke, fine and alive. His black eyes reassured her as he gave her a slight smile.

"Sasuke." Sakura wanted to get up and hug him, or kiss him. But she couldn't, she was too badly injured. But Sasuke bent down to give her a quick soft kiss on the lips, and then remained close to her face, just looking at her… which of course, was when she realized the only clothes she wore were the bandages that covered her entire upper body and torso.

"PERVERT!" she shrieked, slapping him and knocking him backwards, clutching the white sheets to herself. Her pitch black eyes and bright red cheeks looked quite odd.

"Gomen! Sorry, sorry sorry! I didn't mean to!" Sasuke apologized, flustered and somewhat dazed from crashing into the far wall. The doctor, who had been silent up till now, was doing a weird kind of bobbing up and down thing.

"Sakura-san, Sasuke-kun is just recovering – could you avoid injuring him?" He asked, pleadingly. Sakura looked down and apologized.

"The doctor needs to check up on your burns and cuts." Kakashi said, and left the room with a "Hope you feel better, see ya."

Silently, Sakura allowed the doctor to poke around and take notes on his clipboard of her healing. Then he left and a nurse came in. She was redressing Sakura's wounds when she touched something that obviously hurt. Sakura tensed, restraining herself but a short "eyahh.." escaped her. Sasuke, unreasonably on edge, dropped his crutch and quick as lightning, had the nurse pinned to the wall, his eyes an angry red as the Sharingan threw out his emotions.

"Don't you dare hurt her." He snarled.

"Sasuke! What the hell is wrong with you, she's helping me!" Sakura cried out, trying to get up. The nurse stiffened, but did not cry for help. The reason why came soon. Sasuke's leg buckled without the crutch, but the nurse caught him.

"Back to your room."

"I'll stay here." He returned.

"Back to your room, Sasuke-kun, or I'll lock you in there for as long as your hospital stay lasts." She said sternly, sounding like a mother. Sulking, he retrieved his crutch and patted Sakura's forehead, smoothing out her hair.

"I'll see you soon." He said, and left.

The days passed, some quickly and some slowly. Sakura and Sasuke both healed quite well, although the doctors warned against any strenuous practicing anytime soon. Sakura's crazed attacks on Naoko had taken serious tolls on her body.

"Five petals? You're kidding me!" Sasuke said, staring at Sakura in amazement as they took an early morning walk. It had been so long since they had been able to do that.

"I'm not, and it's a shame you didn't see it. I wish I could do it again but I'll probably have to wait till we're adults, because that thing almost killed me. Frankly, I wonder how I'm still alive after using all that chakra." Sakura said, grinning. Sasuke took her hand.

"You saved my life." He said. He stopped her and took her other hand, turning her to face him. "Can I thank you enough?"

Sakura threw back her head and laughed. Then she quieted and replied. "You don't need to."


	15. Just a Normal Day

D/C: I don't own any part of Naruto

Just a Normal Day

Many weeks had passed since the fight, and Naoko could not be located. The strange thing was that the entire Dark ninja village had disappeared. Travelers and officials of the ninja villages had arrived to confront the village on offensive behavior to the Godaime of Konoha and her subordinates, but had found instead, a massive smoking hole.

Meanwhile, Sakura and Sasuke had much improved, fully recovered now. They went back to training, getting back in shape after so long a hospital stay. Finished at early noon, they walked back through the parks to go home and freshen up. Sakura no longer lived at her parents' house, instead she lived at Tsunade's place, with her own room and what not, as Tsunade's assistant. Shizune had left to join another Konoha team, and Tsunade liked having a helper around.

They walked through the parks, laughing and sometimes staying a while to talk with people and friends they knew. Hinata sat with some of her family, smiling shyly and talking with Kiba. Kiba's crush on Hinata was cute, but the mention of Naruto still left her quietly stammering for minutes. They passed Shikamaru but left him alone because Temari was visiting (again).

"Oh, shoot. Hurry, Sasuke, we're having dinner at Yuzuru-san and Kirari-san's place tonight." Sakura clapped a hand to her forehead, and practically picked up Sasuke as she set off at a dead run to his house. They arrived at his large house, and Sasuke stumbled about, reeling in dizziness while Sakura stood, breathing lightly, and began to freak out.

"Tsunade's coming too, oh, I am so dead. She's going to kill me if I'm late and I still have to run home and shower and change and ohh." She jumped about. Sasuke, while Sakura was flailing about, had picked up a package on his doorstep.

"Godaime sent a package, I think it has your clothes."

"Really?! I'm saved!" Sakura shrieked. Sasuke took her hand and opened the door.

"Come on, you can use one of the bathrooms."

Inside his house, Sakura went to one of the many empty rooms, while Sasuke went to his bathroom. She was downstairs, unfolding the dress she was to wear to dinner tonight, damp hair hanging over a tanktop and shorts. Sasuke's arms came under hers and around her stomach, drawing her close to him. "Yum… your shampoo smells good."

Sakura made a face at him. "Sasuke, this is your shampoo."

"Whatever. Eh? What's that?" he picked up a note that had fallen out of the package. His cheeks suddenly burned a bright red, and he let go of Sakura and made towards the trashcan.

"Hey now." Sakura grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back. "Let me see that."

"You really don't want to."

"Tsunade gave me a note, I have to read it."

"Trust me, Flower, you don't want to read this."

"Give it to me, little boy!"

"Wha-?! You did not-"

"Give me the stupid note." She snatched it, as Sasuke gave his cynical little smirk. "You have got to be kidding me." Sakura said with a tone of desperation, as her eyes turned black in embarrassment.

"Told you."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yes, Sasuke, you win."

"I get a kiss as a prize."

Sakura turned the note into a frog. "Kiss that, and make it into a prince."

"Why would I want to save a stupid prince?"

"Would you rather save a pretty little pinhead of princess? Another girl?"

"Hey that's not fair." Sasuke complained. "What, and you want a prince?"

"The prince would give me notes that my teacher sent me."

"I ended up letting you read it, so I did give it to you, which means I'm a prince."

"I had to take it from you."

"Just give me a kiss, dammit." Sasuke said, grabbing Sakura and kissing her. Sakura smiled and kissed him on the nose again.

"You're funny. Come on, let's go." She said, and the frog turned back into the piece of paper as they went out the door.

What did the note say?

Sakura, I sent the clothes over knowing you wouldn't make it home in time to change after practice, so instead you'd run over to Uchiha's house, no wait, your house- ha! Get it? Don't let the hormonal boy into the room when you're changing and showering. Gosh, I feel like a mother. I'm a good mother. Anyways, why not? Because, Sasuke, your service is not needed to help her in and out of her clothes. And right about now I have successfully made your faces explode in "What the hell?!"-s. See you later, Tsunade


	16. Dark House, Dark Thoughts

sorry for the long break! i'm back again, anyways

d/c: naruto does not belong to me

Dark House, Dark Thoughts

Something was wrong with Sasuke.

A few weeks after their recovery, Sakura had often seen Sasuke stalking out of his house, through the birds-eye view of Tsunade's office. She watched him walk to the training grounds, and lost sight of him as soon as he reached cover of the tall trees. Late at night, if she was finishing up some last paperwork for Tsunade, she would look out the window and see him walking back, occasionally letting loose an enormous fireball that was unnecesarily large to light the way of the small path. He had even stopped training with Sakura, and had only continued after she had gone to his house and almost full-bloomed the door into pieces from worry and inner sakura-like rage. During the training sessions with Sakura, he spoke less and less, and was unwilling to stop for breaks. He was reverting back into the cold, quiet and scornful Old Sasuke, and Sakura didn't like it.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tsunade's voice broke into her thoughts. The Hokage was watching her assistant rip through paperwork and files, and was absolutely shouting for people to come run errands.

"Uhh... working." Sakura replied, looking up for a brief second, and then concentrating once more on her work, without a single break in the flow.

"Through an entire three day's of admin work? I don't hear a huge crowd of people screaming 'Sakura, we have to get going on a mission.'" Tsunade poked Sakura in the side of the head, hard, but teasingly. She was in a good mood, why not? However, her protege was not. Sakura almost upset the entire table as she whipped around, her eyes pitch black and narrowed. She replied, however, in a forced tone of light humor, while she was dead serious. Mixed up little girl, Tsunade thought, but with a little bit of alarm.

"Why yes," Sakura was saying, a grimace on her face. "I'm finishing this work, so that I can go sleep over at Uchiha-kun's house for a few days." She spat, sounding a little stiff. Then her face fell, and she realized how disrespectful she was being.

"..sleeping over...?" Tsunade said, a look of please-tell-me-you're-joking on her face.

"Don't take it the wrong way, Tsunade-sama." Sakura hastened to add, then looked away, and continued. "I'm worried about Sasuke."

Silence. Tsunade didn't seem to have heard her, and her face seemed frozen with an odd expression. _Nine tails,_ Sakura thought, _its like having a second mother_. Still, it was making Sakura feel awkward. Very awkward.

Suddenly, Tsunade spun around on her foot and started towards the office door, calling "Okay, then. Get the work done. Do anything stupid and I'll stuff kunais down both your throats!" She sounded rather cheerful, and relaxed. She was in a good mood, why not? The door closed, leaving Sakura looking completely bewildered, before she set back to work.

------

Sasuke was wandering around the house, wondering what he felt like doing that day. Nothing really. Except for training. But that was obvious. Killing Itachi. Not an option right now. Of course not, he couldn't even beat that wench Naoko. Sakura had to do it for him. How would he kill Itachi. He was wasting his time, while Itachi grew stronger. Sakura was distracting him. But he couldn't let go of her, that would be like fifty Mangekyous.

A _thok_ outside his house attracted his keen hearing, and he went outside, squinting in the light, to see what it was. A kunai with a message attached, and he recognized Sakura's handwriting. _How the hell did she throw it all the way from the stupid office? _He took a moment to wonder, before a feeling of annoyance at Sakura's massive strength flooded him. Still, he took down the message.

-No training today for me. Too much work at the office, I'll see you soon though. -Sakura -

What did she mean, 'see you soon'? Still annoyed at the vague hint, he left for the training grounds.

-----

Hours later, he came back to the old Uchiha mansion, loathing its doorframe, its hallway, its rooms. He was exhausted, physically and mentally. After using most of his chakra practicing the Chidori, he had used what energy he had left in multiple training exercises and brutal conditioning. Without turning on any of the lights, he showered and then dragged himself to his room, where he threw himself upon the bed, and fell into a stupor that was not sleep, but nor was he really awake. It was a stupor, however, that filled his eyes with Itachi's eyes, and his memories.

His room flooded with light. There was a loud thump and the lights turned off before Sasuke could react. He hadn't been asleep for long, but he was weary, and his reflexes were slow. Slow compared to his normal speed, but still fast. He groaned, hissed, then snatched a kunai from his bedside table and was about to leap up, when a hand grabbed his wrist and another pushed against his chest, firm, but not violent. He recognized the touch, and slumped back into the mattress.

"Dammit, Sakura, what was that for?"

"Konbanwa to you, too." was her reply.

"What are you here for?" he retorted.

"Goodness, does a kunoichi need an excuse to pop in at her boyfriend's for a visit?" Sakura said, stepping over her bags and turning off the light. In the darkness, Sasuke rolled over onto his side, but watched Sakura out of the corner of his eye. She took off her sweatshirt, revealing a big t-shirt and shorts, and walked out of his sight. A second later, she slid into bed beside him and he felt her arms circle him and draw him close.

"I really like how you asked, first. It was very considerate." he said, dryly, now wide awake. Her response was a squeeze and a kiss on the neck. He had almost forgotten how it felt to have Sakura so close to him. But then what little light there was was blocked out by a darker shadow, as Sakura got up on one elbow and looked at him, bending over his side to look into his face. Her light cheeriness had faded, and there was real concern in her eyes.

"I miss you, Sasuke. What's wrong?" she whispered. One hand was holding back her pink hair, trying to tuck it behind an ear, but failing. She looked so pretty. He realized, that he missed her too. He didn't know what he wanted more, to kill Itachi, or stay with Sakura. Itachi could wait, and he would for tonight.

"Nothing." He replied, and he meant it. He stared back into her eyes, and a mischevious smile spread across his face. Without warning, he reached back and curled an arm around Sakura's middle, and promptly half-lifted, half-threw her, as she shrieked with surprise, onto the other side of the bed. She landed facing him, and lightly smacked him on the shoulder.

"You really couldn't just roll your body to face me?" she said, laughing.

"No." he said, stubbornly.

The two fell asleep with their arms around each other.


	17. Lights in the Dark

d/c: naruto is not my creation

-Lights In The Dark-

Sakura awoke the next morning with the hairs on the back of her neck prickling. She opened her eyes and saw Sasuke lying on his back, eyes closed, and alert. So he sensed it too. Sasuke's hand was still holding Sakura's, and he gave it a light squeeze, as if he were saying _Someone's here, and we're going to do something about it_. So Sakura lay, quiet, and watched for a signal. A glimmer of red appeared in the morning light spilling through a crack in the curtains, as Sasuke's eyelids lazily fluttered and Sharingan eyes glowed.

"There," he whispered, "the hole in the wall." and nudged Sakura's hand. In a few seconds, she saw it too, the tiniest of holes, peeking through the leaves of a plant. "When I call it, go through the window." Sakura nodded.

There was a silence, and then suddenly Sasuke sprang up, and shouted, "Go!" as he threw a kunai with deadly accuracy, straight at the hole. Sakura, too, jumped up, and slammed the window open. They heard a curse as the spy saw the kunai coming and jerked away from the wall, and as he did so, Sakura was already behind him.

"Jiraiya?!" Sakura blinked. Sasuke ran and stuck his head out the window.

"What the- Jiraiya?" he repeated.

Jiraiya was laughing, shaking the tree Sakura and he were seated upon. "Oh you kids, so fun to play with. I was being nice, just letting you two pretend you could catch me."

Sasuke's face had exasperation written all over it. "What are you doing here, crazy man?" he muttered.

"Tsunade's orders." the 'crazy man' replied.

"Tsun-" Sakura started, then reddened. "Kyuubi... she doesn't trust me at all."

And so the days passed. Sakura and Sasuke resumed their training together, and Sasuke's house didn't seem so oppressive with Sakura's laughter filling it. Each morning they woke up, threw a kunai or dagger or anything sharp at Jiraiya, exchanged quips, and then left for the day's work. Even when Sakura left to go resume duties at Tsunade's office, she got away at nights, if Tsunade let her, to visit Sasuke. Sakura's work didn't let her see much of Sasuke, but she refused to shirk her work, and even so, found time to train with him.

But she should have known it was too good to last. Sasuke took care not to let Sakura see, but his brooding returned, and once Sakura left the house, and he was alone, he would continue his thoughts of vengeance and frustration.

Then one night, Sasuke woke up for no real reason at all. It was raining outside, and there were rumbles of thunder; but that had never woken him up before. Sakura was sleeping over, and his arms were holding her close, her pink hair faintly shining and contrasting strongly with his raven black. He lay there for a while, trying to go back to sleep, until he heard a sound downstairs. Sasuke knew what his house sounded like when it was empty far better than he wanted to, and this was new. An intruder? Or just Jiraiya being weird... He'd better check anyways. Moving carefully as to not wake up Sakura, he pulled his arms away and brushed her hair off his cheek where he had been lying on it. Sasuke slipped out the bedroom door into the pitch-black hallway. He felt his way through the dark halls and down the staircase into the main hall, where the front door was. There was no one here. He hadn't seen anyone.

"Sasuke-kun, how nice to see you again." a voice said, quietly. It was a voice that had once restrained laughter and cheer, but was now constrained to a dry, cold, sneer. Sasuke had heard it before. He whirled around and a flash of lightning illuminated a group of standing figures. At their front, stood Naoko.

Sasuke's felt his lips curl back into a grimace, and his eyes narrowed. "Nakamura." he snarled.

"Be a good boy, won't you, and turn on the lights for us." she said, a cruel smile twisting her pretty mouth.

"I'm not moving." he barked back. Everyone could see, their eyes had adjusted, why the heck should he turn on a stupid light. _Who are these people? _

"Shush, shush. We don't want to wake up Flower, do we?" Naoko said. Sasuke paled, but only became angrier_. How did she know_?

"What do you want." he growled. The group behind Naoko began to call out.

"He's rather rude."

"Too much trouble, I'd say."

"Turn on the damn light, boy."

"No self control, whatsoever. That's bad."

"Be nice, friends," Naoko chided, eyes still focused on Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun wants our help." 'Sasuke-kun' bristled, and his reserve broke.

"No-I-don't." Sasuke almost shouted, in his fury. "Why are you back, Naoko? What do you want? You almost killed me, almost killed Sakura, threatened the Hokage, what more do you want to do? Take your horde of honorless fools and go." he spat.

But Naoko only stepped aside, and let a tall figure stride through from the back of the crowd, and the jeering people behind her fell silent. The person's face was hidden in the darkness, but slowly slid into a shaft of moonlight. To Sasuke's surprise, he was strikingly handsome. But it was a beauty to be wary of. Dark blue hair reflected the light as long thick bangs hung over his face, and off the sides. The rest was in a braid that fell down his back.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun." His voice was no more than a whisper, and yet it carried much further. His greeting was met by a cold hard glare from its subject.

"What do you want? Honestly, I don't know why you bastards aren't gone ye-" The man held a hand up, and to Sasuke's utter surprise, he found himself silent.

"Only to help you, if you help us." He replied.

"And why would I help you." Sasuke's voice was flat with anger, and the hair on his neck was standing on end. These people were not good, and he didn't need to give himself proof. "Who are you. I don't care, actually, just get out."

"I'm here to help you." The stranger said calmly, staring Sasuke straight in his bloodred eyes.

"I never asked for it." Sasuke snapped.

A rustle, and then the window blinds were whipped shut, enclosing them all in darkness.

"What the hell do you think you're do-" and again, Sasuke's voice was muted again as he was surrounded by a glow. Multiple glows. He looked around him, and saw that Naoko and her followers… no… this man and his followers had surrounded him. And each was glowing. Some body part was glowing. Fists glowed white, hated arms of Naoko glowed yellow, eyes green, some were covered in patches of it, and others did not glow, but held weapons that did. His eyes darted about, fruitlessly looking for the source of this freakish light, the chakra raging around them, and found nothing.

"Your Sharingan does nothing, am I correct?" the leader whispered, and Sasuke whirled around to see the man's handsome face wreathed in his blue shining hair.

"It's light. Big deal. Can't do anything with it." Sasuke tried to put cold apathy and disgust into his voice, but even he could hear the interest breaking through.

"You've seen what it can do, Sasuke-kun. Naoko-chan here has made sure of that. Uchiha Sasuke, younger brother to the traitorous Uchiha Itachi who murdered all your clansmen… do you know what light can do?"

Sasuke's pale face drained even more of color, and he looked positively ghost-like. "What's your name?" Sasuke demanded.

"I am Hanazaki."


	18. Let Me

d/c: naruto does not belong to me

-Let Me-

"I am Hanazaki." The blue-haired man said, with a silence that glued Sasuke's attention to him.

"Okay, Hanazaki. Tell me what you want, and also why the hell you happen to be in my house. How did you get past the shinobi night guard?" Sasuke demanded angrily in one long breath.

Hanazaki chuckled. "Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke bristled, but Hanazaki continued, unaware of the condescending nicknames he was throwing at Sasuke, "Do you honestly believe the shinobi guard could stop _anyone_?"

Sasuke froze, then said flatly, "They're jounin. Of course."

"You don't believe that."

"How do you know?"

"Because I can see, like this light in my hair shines into your thoughts. I can see."

Sasuke gave a brittle, cold laugh. "See, that's just bullshit, that's what that is. Enough talking. You haven't proved your point, so get out." So talky, lately, Sasuke thought, I've been talking too much.

"Or else?"

"Just get out." Sasuke's hand twitched, and a kunai glinted there. But before he could move, Hanazaki spoke again, and with a growing alarm, Sasuke listened.

"You think the jounin are weak. Only several shinobi have captured your respect. The one they call Naruto, a jinchuuriki who has gone off training for several years, the Godaime, who you have a quiet respect for, Kakashi, your teacher who has demonstrated his considerable abilities, and your girlfriend, Haruno Sakura, who is currently upstairs, asleep, and who believes you no longer have these vengeful thoughts."

Sasuke was stiff, his hair prickling on his neck. "How-" Sasuke interrupted himself, and had Hanazaki pushed up against a wall, the cold steel of the kunai against his throat.

"You. You've been following me." He hissed, but his breath caught suddenly, as he found himself thrown back against the floor, several feet away from Hanazaki. The man's blue braid was hovering in front of him, apparently the force which had knocked him away. His followers, Naoko included, glared malevolently at Sasuke, apparently loathing him for such an unneeded act of violence.

"Sasuke-kun," Hanazaki growled, the calming pitch of his voice now a solid, strong and undefeatable flow. "Do you know what light can do?"

Sasuke began to speak, but Hanazaki interrupted,

"Have you ever seen a group of people such as mine, do what they are doing now? Do you really know, really know… what light can do?

Do you think, for a second, that darkness and the confused, narrow view of your mind, is the best representation of your determination?

Do you think that light represents simple-minded purity and pretty things that are only as pretty as they look?

You have now seen what light can do. But, do you believe it?"

Hanazaki paused, then continued in his light whispering tones. "I tire of your incessant childishness. I am offering my help, because you have strength, and you know it. You are strong, but you are trapped in this pitiful shinobi village. Let me help you. If you become wiser, and realize that my help is what you want, leave your village with the true intent of leaving… and I will be there waiting."

This was too much.

"Leave Sakura?" Sasuke said, hoarsely, as if it didn't register.

"She is of no use."

A crackling ball of blue electricity roared into life in Sasuke's hand, and he leapt to his feet in a blinding rage. They could keep their damn light, he thought, furious. Indeed, the glare of his Chidori made theirs look like flashlights, and children's things.

"THEN YOU ARE OF NO USE TO ME." Sasuke screamed, and flew at them, bringing up his Chidori to plunge into all of their bodies, and rid himself once and for all from Naoko and her flirtatious poison, from Hanazaki, and from the bloodied shadows of his past.

"… Sasuke?"

Sasuke's eyes snapped open. The room was empty, but as he turned, he saw Sakura in the doorway. His unused Chidori sputtered into emptiness, and he could only keep turning in bewildered circles, looking for Hanazaki.

"Where… where…" he kept muttering. Sakura watched him, her brow furrowed, and hands uncertainly tracing the doorframe. What was he doing, up at this hour, and attacking air like a crazy man?

"Where… what the… where'd they go… hell." Sasuke was muttering angrily, and his eyes blazed red as he frantically tried to find their damn chakra. If he didn't catch them, they'd come back to annoy him. He knew it. He didn't know whether this was in his head or not… they had disappeared… why couldn't this entire vengeance crap stop?!

Arms tightened around his waist, and he froze. He could feel Sakura's head against his back, cushioned by her soft hair. Gently, she turned him to face her, and kept her arms around him, resting her chin on his chest, and looking up at him. She had an odd look on her face. Kind of like the one a mother gave her child when he was scared, except filled with the other sort of love. The reason why Sasuke was sane. Because of Sakura, Sasuke was happier than he had been in a while.

"Bad dream." She said, matter-of-factly.

"Y-yeah. Yeah. Bad dream." Sasuke mumbled, and dipped his head so she could kiss him on his nose.

"Come on." Sakura led him back upstairs, careful, as if not wanting to surprise a twitchy fox.

The next morning, they awoke, and it was as if nothing had happened. Sasuke went downstairs to make breakfast, and Sakura cleaned the house. They attacked Jiraiya, reported to Tsunade, and then went to training. The same thing that they had been doing for the last few weeks.

But Sasuke couldn't stop thinking about the blue-haired man. Hanazaki. The pure power that had thrown him back on his ass was waiting just outside the village… and he would only wait so long.

And so, one morning when Sakura raced off to the Godaime's office, Sasuke acted. He had made himself avoid planning, because seeing Sakura would black them all out again, and he couldn't afford to back out. As he strode purposefully from room to room of his mansion, gathering his things, he persuaded himself why this was the right thing to do.

Kunai packs. _She's the reason why I haven't gotten much stronger_. Temporary food. Medicine. _I haven't avenged my family. This is what I have to do_. Bandages. Some message scrolls, for no good reason. _Remember the ninja rules. I'm not supposed to grow attached. _Extra set of clothes. _The shinobi who develop relationships weaken themselves. They break the rules, and the bosses don't reprimand them because they are just as weak. _Damn, how could he forget another box of shuriken? Get that too. _Developing my skills as a ninja is the first priority. It's good for village relations. _Well that was a stupid reason. No… whatever works. _If I don't do it now, I won't get another chance_. Exploding tags.

_I love her._

He winced, then paused. He shouldered his backpack, straightened his shoulders, and with a stone face, walked out the door.

_Not anymore_.

"Sasuke?" Sakura walked into the kitchen, closing the door. There had been a lot of work, and she was home late.

"Sasuke??" She went into the closet to hang up her kunai pack. As she unclipped it from her thigh and put it up on a hook, something hit her. The hook next to her bag was empty. A few months ago she would have though Sasuke didn't hang it up, and that it was probably lying somewhere in the bathroom. But something told her this was different.

She bolted, and sprang up the staircase, throwing open all the doors.

"Sasuke?"

"SASUKE?"

There! A piece of paper was pinned to a door, flapping idly in the small breeze when it had swung open. She ripped it off, and read it, frantic.

_Haruno, _(Haruno?! Sakura's eyebrows furrowed, and she checked: there was no way that this was anyone else's handwriting.)

_I've realized these past months are a mistake. We are shinobi, meant to hone our skills and defend the countries. My brother is still a large risk to all the nations, and I have failed to kill him, yet. So, I've left. You don't need to know where, but I am safe, or as safe as any person may be. I've left so that I can get better, and I ask you to do the same. Become stronger for Tsunade-sama, and for yourself. I may return to the village, I may not. But I will live for myself, and my skills now. Our love was a foolish, puppyish thing between two adolescents, and you and I are both otherwise mature. It did not exist. It wasn't real. So you will not follow me. You will let me go, let me be myself, let me be who I was made to be. Let me._

The writing trickled off at the end of the page, and Sakura flipped it over. A brilliant red paper had been slapped onto the back. Startled, she realized it was smoking. Under it, two words were written.

_Forgive me_.

It exploded.


End file.
